Flight
by kestrelknight
Summary: Jensen and Mariah are twins from the real world, who are mysteriously taken to the Minecraft realm. They make the simple decision to go on 'one last adventure'... Who knew three words could change so much? (Humor/Adventure/Family/Romance) Now rated T, just to be on the safe side.
1. Chapter 1: Attempt 18

Author's Note / Disclaimer

This is the first fanfic I've put on FanFiction, so I'm pretty new to this whole thing. Please rate and review!

I don't own Minecraft or any related things.

FLIGHT – Chapter 1 (Attempt #18)

"You realize this is never going to work, right?" said Mariah.

"Shut up. 'Course it'll work," replied Jensen.

His sister gave him a sceptical look.

"Oh, come on, what's the worst thing that could happen? Now get in," Jensen commanded.

"No. It's going to explode, I just know it," Mariah told him.

"You're overreacting. I thought relationships were built on trust. Besides, how could you possibly know it's going to explode?"

"The last 17 attempts did; now get out of that thing before you hurt yourself."

"Hey, 'that thing' has a name, you know…" Jensen said, feigning offense.

"Yes, and that name is 'Flying Slaughterhouse'!" she replied.

"So you admit it! It _can _fly!"

Mariah was getting a headache.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. Just because you built a working one back home, doesn't mean it'll work here. The laws of physics are different, remember? Who knows what'll happen when you hit the ignition button!?"

Jensen sighed. "I guess you might be right…" he began sullenly.

"BUT," he continued, "you might not! Only one way to find out!"

He pushed the ignition button. Nothing happened. He sighed again and climbed out of the motorised hot air balloon.

"Looks like I'd better start working on Attempt #19…"

Jensen turned to look at his creation, which conveniently burst into flame.

"See?" said Mariah, "Flying Slaughterhouse."

Jensen glared at her like a small child who hadn't gotten what he wanted for Christmas.

"You said it would explode."

*BOOM!*

Jensen pouted from behind a face full of ash. Mariah coughed.

"Never mind…"


	2. Chapter 2: Adventure Time!

**Disclaimer**

**I do not own Minecraft or any related characters/mobs/objects, etc.**

**Still pretty new to this, so show me some love!**

**EDIT FROM A POINT IN TIME WHEN I'VE ALREADY WRITTEN CHAPTER 10:**

**Good gracious, this chapter is awful.**

**I'm so sorry for everyone who's reading this.**

**It gets better. It really does. Just ignore how out-of-character Mariah is acting. She's not normally this weird. I didn't really want to have to write this bit, but it wouldn't make much sense to jump straight into the adventure, would it? I wish I could go back a re-write the first 5 chapters, but alas, the deed is done. Too many people have read it already. Please just bear with me until later chapters.**

FLIGHT – Chapter 2 (Adventure Time!)

- 4 years later -

"Jensen, where did you get this?"

"I, uh, found it…" he replied sheepishly.

"Jensen! You haven't been mining again, have you? You know I hate it when you go mining! You could fall in lava, or… or… get eaten by zombies, or… anything!" Mariah said in a panic.

"Mariah! I would… never! I, uh, got it… in a trade! With a villager!" Jensen said unconvincingly.

Mariah gave him an all too familiar sceptical look.

"I did! Cost me 10 emeralds, too! I tell you, the price of diamonds is through the roof! If you'd let me mine, though…"

"Jensen!" Mariah scolded her brother. "You know that's not legal anymore. I know it was fine when we first came here, but the rules have changed, and thank goodness, or this whole world would be a barren wasteland! And think how the griefers would flock here… The rules are in place for a reason, Jensen; they can't bend them for you!"

"But I helped build this town!"

"I told you, they can't just bend the rules for you!"

Jensen sighed.

"Besides," said Mariah, "I thought we were going to settle down. You promised me."

Jensen sighed again.

"I… I know I promised you, but… Can we just… I mean…"

"Spit it out, Jensen," Mariah told him, sounding like her old self again.

"Can we go on… just _one _last adventure?"

Mariah laughed.

"I thought you'd never ask," she told her brother.

- The Next Day -

"Are you sure you've packed everything?" Mariah asked.

"I'm sure. I've got a compass, maps, food, weapons, plenty of arrows, picks, shovels, emeralds, iron, wood and cobblestone."

"Cobblestone? Really? That stuff is butt-ugly," Mariah said, with a look of disgust on her face.

"Mariah! You haven't said something like that in years!" Jensen said, laughing.

"Oh yeah? Well, brother, maybe it's time I started again. You make it sound like I talk like an old lady. I'm only 20, you know."

"Yeah, but you're so… prudent."

"Yuck. I hate that word," Mariah said, with the aforementioned disgusted look.

"That's the Mariah I knew four years ago…" Jensen said nostalgically

"Has it really been that long?"

He nodded, and Mariah shook her head.

"Far too long, Jensen. I'm glad we're doing this. Maybe I'll… I don't know… find myself. I've been hiding the real me since… Well… that doesn't matter anyway. Let's get going!"

Jensen wondered what she'd been about to say, as he took one final look at his home, before he and Mariah set out for adventure.

Little did he know that it would be the last time he'd see the place as it was now.

And he didn't even get close to thinking such thoughts. Because now, he was preoccupied with being happy. Content. Excited. For the first (and perhaps the last) time in years.

**Author's Note**

**Kestrel: Thanks to everyone who's reading this.**

**Jensen: Yeah, it means a lot.**

**Kestrel: *looks up from laptop for the first time in two weeks* How are you in my living room?**

**Jensen: Mariah and I are just here to say hello.**

**Mariah: That's why, Jensen, she asked how. Not that we care about her.**

**Kestrel *facepalm***

**Mariah: Also, just saying, my name is pronounced Mar-EYE-aah, not Mar-EE-aah.**

**Jensen: And my name is pronounced JEN-sen!**

**Kestrel and Maria in unison: Everyone knew that, moron *fistbump***

**Jensen: Nobody loves me…**

**Anyway, as Jensen at Mariah are busy looking through my cupboards for food, I bid you all adieu. Until next time, stay tuned. :D**

**Kestrel Knight**


	3. Chapter 3: On the Road

Disclaimer:

I do not own Minecraft or any related objects, characters, etc.

FLIGHT – Chapter 3 (On the Road)

- Jensen's POV -

We were heading in to the Eastern Unknown Regions.

"What's that up ahead?" Mariah asked.

"I don't know. Looks like a building," I replied.

We walked a little closer.

"I think it's a town," said Mariah. "But I thought no one had settled here?"

"Well, it is the unknown regions. They probably don't know we exist either," I pointed out.

The closer we got, the bigger the town looked. It was starting to look like a full-blown city, something neither of us had seen since… Well, since we were home. It also looked like it had a wall running the whole way around. Luckily we were walking straight towards the main gate. It was guarded by about 10 people, all heavily armoured. Who, or what could be trying to get in to this city that no one from our region had ever heard of? And why would they need so much armour? I eyed their diamond swords. Best not to get on their bad side.

"Hello," I said to one of the guards. He pulled out his sword, and Mariah and I put our hands up.

"Who are you, and where did you come from?" he asked in a gruff voice. Looks like they speak out language.

"I'm Jensen," I said, "And this is Mariah."

He nodded slowly.

"We're from the west," Mariah told him.

The rest of the guards pulled their swords out.

"You're from the west?" the guard repeated.

"Yeah. Is… that a problem?" said Mariah.

"Problem?! You're from the wastelands!"

We gave him a blank look.

"The Western Wastelands. How could you come from there and not know what they are!?"

"I'm sorry," I told him, "But we don't know of any Western Wastelands."

"The Griefer Zone. The place got mined dry, and then a griefer horde came and finished of anyone else still living there. Don't you know your own history?! Unless… you're lying about where you come from! You aren't from the Northerners, are you?"

"Northerners? Of course not, but I think there's been-"

"SEIZE THESE HALF-BLOODS!" the guard cried.

"Half-bloods? What's a half-blood?" Mariah asked.

"SILENCE!"

"Okay…"

The guards grabbed us and roughly pushed us through the city gate, while the citizens stared at the two 'half-bloods' the guards (who were looking extremely proud of themselves) were taking to a cell.

"Mommy, what did they do?" asked one little girl. Her mother shushed her, and hurried her away, much to her daughter's dismay. There was a similar reaction from a most of the people in the streets. They hurried to their homes, and avoided catching our eyes. I wondered what half-bloods were, and what they could've done to deserve a reception like this.

Author's Note:

Jensen: Anybody got a harmonica?

Mariah: Shut up.

Me: Thank you so much for reading this, and for your support. Please rate and review!

I'm now accepting OCs for this fanfic, so submit them, and I'll read them! Who knows, maybe yours will get picked. I'll give shout-outs to the people whose characters get in. Please include your character's name, age, gender, personality, appearance, where they live, and what side they're on (e.g- The city, Jensen and Mariah, the griefers, or the half-bloods)

If you're wondering what the half-bloods are, you'll have to wait until the next chapter, so STAY TUNED!

Until Chapter 4,

Kestrel Knight


	4. Chapter 4: The City of Plenty

Disclaimer:

I do not own Minecraft, or any related characters, objects, mobs, etc.

FLIGHT – Chapter 4 (The City of Plenty)

- Mariah's POV -

The guards took everything we had and threw us into a small cell. Jensen leaned against the iron bars, pouting. I would've laughed if we hadn't been locked up for no good reason. I have no idea why they thought we were half-bloods… whatever a half-blood is…

I looked out the tiny window in the cell. The city's streets were empty. We didn't even know what the city was called, or what the people were like.

Suddenly, a little boy crept out of his home and into the street. He glanced at me, then ran back inside. I wondered when we were going to be let out. Or at least when we would get some decent food.

I heard footsteps coming along the hallway to our cell. A guard stopped outside the cell, glanced at Jensen and me, then took out a set of keys.

"Are we being let out?" I asked.

He shushed me, then unlocked the cell, and opened the door.

"Quickly, we don't have much time. I'll get you out of here, though," he whispered hurriedly.

Jensen and I glanced at each other, then rushed out of the cell.

The guard ushered us along a hallway, then entered a door. We heard a chest open and close, and he came out carrying our things.

"Here, take your things and follow me," he told us.

We did as he said, and he led us further down the hallway, and opened another door. He took down some clothes and shoved them at us.

"Put these on, if you don't want to end up back in that cell."

The guard noticed I was standing there awkwardly, then rolled his eyes, and pointed to the door. I thanked him, then stepped into the closet to change.

I stepped out, now dressed in clothes similar to what I'd seen the city's residents wearing – leather boots and pants, both black, an iron chestplate over a light blue woollen shirt, and a leather cap, dyed yellow. Jensen was wearing the same clothes as me, in different colours.

"Much better. You look more like regular people now. A little more tan, but still much better," the guard commented.

I, personally missed my diamond armour. Wearing cheap leather made me feel vulnerable. And I suppose I was.

"Are you saying we didn't look like regular people before?" Jensen said angrily.

"Well, you might've looked normal back home, wherever that is, but here in Plenty you look a little out of place," the man replied.

"Plenty. Is that what the city's called?" I asked.

The man nodded and said, "Yes, the founders hoped it would bring fortune and prosperity to the city." He laughed dryly. "Doesn't seem like it worked, though."

"What do you mean?" Jensen said.

"Well," the man replied, "Everything was just fine until there was a zombie siege a few months after the city was founded. We lost two thirds of our population."

"That's terrible! I guess that's why the city is so heavily guarded, then," I said.

The guard nodded.

"That reminds me," began Jensen, "Why did you let us out of our cell?"

"You haven't done anything wrong. You're obviously not half-bloods. Those bone-headed guards just wanted to capture someone. They haven't had any excitement in weeks."

"Does that mean you're not a guard?" I asked.

"No, I'm definitely not a guard. Actually, I'm an inventor. I work with redstone. I suppose you could say I'm a scientist."

Jensen's eyes lit up.

"Sorry, where are my manners?" laughed the man. "My name is Sebastian. And your names are…?"

Jensen stuck out his hand. "My name's Jensen. I'm a scientist, too. I prefer mechanics, but I'm handy with a bit of redstone."

That was an understatement. Even if he liked tinkering with mechanisms more that redstone, he was still a genius with the stuff. Nevertheless, the two shook hands.

"I'm Mariah," I said simply.

"Pleasure to meet you, madam. Are you two twins?"

"Yes, we are," Jensen replied happily.

"Are we going to leave the jail yet, or are we just going to stand around?" I asked, impatiently. We could get to pleasantries later.

"Sorry, of course. We'd best be going. Come with me, we'll take the back door."

And so Jensen and I followed Sebastian down the hallway and out the back door.

"I assume you have nowhere to stay?" he asked.

"Well, no. The guards arrested us outside the gate, so we haven't really had a chance to pin down some accommodations yet," I said.

"Well then, I can take you in for the night," Sebastian said, smiling. "Maybe Jensen and I can look at a few blueprints I've been making."

"Thank you! We can't turn down such a kind offer! Of course we'll stay with you!" Jensen said, a little overeagerly.

We went with Sebastian to his house, which wasn't too far from where we were.

"Sebastian," I said, "What exactly are half-bloods?"

"Well… those who were lost in the zombie siege long ago became zombies themselves. We mourned their loss and moved on. But then we found that an evil wizard to the North had found a way to return them to human form once again. The only downsides were that they lost all their memories form their previous life, and after being rotted by the zombies' disease, their minds were never truly restored. Because of this, they obeyed the wizard who saved them with blind obedience, and are working for him to this day."

"How did you know we weren't half-bloods?"

"Well, half-bloods' skin is tinged slightly green form the remnant of the disease, and deathly pale. You, on the other hand are healthily tanned. Which is probably how the guard knew you weren't from around here. I guess people from your town spend a lot of time outside – farming, I presume?"

We nodded.

"Well, here in Plenty, we have machines that do that sort of work for us. You must live in a 'vanilla' area. That's what we call the areas without all the rich ores, like copper and tin, as well as all the magic ores."

I remembered copper and tin from home. I had no idea they were in this world.

"Sebastian, are you… from… Earth?"

He gave me a blank look. "Earth?" he repeated. "Where's that?"

I shook my head. "Never mind."

He shrugged, then broke out in a grin.

"Welcome to my humble abode."

Author's Note:

Sebastian: YAY! I exist!

Jensen: Aren't we glad. *lies down on Sebastian's sofa*

Mariah: Nice place you have here.

Me: Thanks to everyone who's reading this. Your support is much appreciated.

Jensen: MUCH appreciated.

Me: Please don't forget to rate and review, and follow so you don't miss any chapters!

Mariah: Yeah, rate and all that… stuff.

Me: A nice, long chapter for you all. I didn't intend for it to be quite this long, but I got started and couldn't really stop. Besides, they were in the middle of a prison break. There wasn't really an appropriate ending point.

Sebastian: What are you talking about?

Jensen: Shhh!

Me: The story is still open to OCs! It should be a little easier now that we all know what half-bloods are. (Or at least… what the people of Plenty think half-bloods are… Remember, they were wrong about the 'Western Wastelands') Anyway, shout-out to jaketron, for the follow and review! Stay tuned for Chapter 5!

Until next time,

Kestrel Knight


	5. Chapter 5: Couch Syndrome

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I don't own Minecraft. (But I wish I did)**

FLIGHT – Chapter 5 (Couch Syndrome)

- Sebastian's POV -

I led Jensen and Mariah down the street to my house, then stopped, smiling when we stood outside it.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" I said.

They looked relieved to have arrived.

"Are you two fine with sharing a bedroom?" I asked, thinking it'd be best to check.

I saw a glance pass between them.

"I can sleep on the couch if you're not. It's okay," I told them.

"No, we're fine. We've had to share a bed before, just not in…" Jensen said, then trailed off. I looked at him expectantly.

"Never mind. We couldn't ask you to sleep on the…" Jensen began, trailing off again.

"Wait. You have a couch?" he finished.

"Um… yeah?"

"How!?"

"I bought it. At the furniture store. Don't… you have couches?"

"Not back at our town, but back home we did," Mariah said, in a similar state of awe to Jensen. They looked slightly giddy.

"What do you mean, back home? Did you move to your town from somewhere else?" I asked.

Another glance passed between them.

"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that…" Jensen replied.

I shrugged, then helped them pack their things away. Best not to push things like that. Not if I want them to trust me. I hope they don't meet one of the rebels.

Mariah lay down on the couch, and sighed.

"This is awesome. I've missed couches," she said, eyes closed.

I suddenly noticed how good she looked now that she was out of those weird clothes from her town. Did everyone from there dress like that? But now she looked almost… pretty. Attractive, even.

I realised I was beginning to stare at her, and quickly looked away, accidentally glancing at Jensen, who had one eyebrow raised at me. He glanced at his sister, who I was pretty sure was now asleep, then back at me. He shook his head, then walked into their room.

I released a deep breath I hadn't even noticed I'd been holding.

_Don't look at her. Just don't. What if she wakes up and finds you staring at her. Get a grip, Sebastian_, I told myself.

Right on cue, her eyes fluttered open.

"Whoa. I think this couch is magic. I haven't slept that easily in ages," she said.

I laughed and said, "Maybe you're just really tired. I mean, it's not every day you get unjustly arrested, huh?"

She smiled and nodded.

"I should probably hit the sack. I am pretty tired," she said.

"Well, you can take a shower if you like. Right through the door across the hall from your room," I said, pointing.

Her eyes lit up. Oh no. Was this couch syndrome all over again?

"You have a shower!? Awesome!"

Jensen's head popped out from behind his door.

"Dibs the first shower!" he called.

Mariah pouted.

Was this a thing where they come from? _Dibs… _I thought to myself. Weird. But cute. Speaking of cute… I glanced at the pouting Mariah.

_No, Sebastian, don't do it! Don't stare at her! It's already bad enough she's staying in your house!_

Oh snap. She's staying in my house. A single, attractive girl who's my age is staying at my house. I felt some butterflies stirring in my stomach. And so is her twin brother…

Well, I'm sure the Council will be fine if I, uh, spare one of the 'visitors'. Maybe they won't even remember there were two spies. And I'm sure Mariah will be fine with staying…

Won't she?

"Uh, Sebastian?" she said.

"Yes?" I said, my voice cracking. I winced. Serves me right.

Mariah smiled and said, "I hope you don't mind us staying a few extra days. I mean, we could stay somewhere else, it's just..."

_What? It's just what? _My heart was beating really fast.

"We don't want people to ask questions, you know? Don't want to end up in prison again..."

_Oh. Right. Of course. I'm an idiot. _

I faked a groan. "Ugh, I'd have to break you out _again_?!"

Her face broke into a smile.

Oh goodness. Am I blushing? I think I'm blushing. _Just look away, Sebastian._

I couldn't. I just kept staring.

"It suddenly got quiet," said Jensen, peeping from the doorway.

I blushed even more. Oh great. As if he wasn't already suspicious. I looked at Mariah again. Was… was she blushing? No, I must be imagining it…

"Well, I'm going to go to bed," she said.

"I'm going to have a shower!" Jensen announced happily.

Mariah disappeared into the bedroom, and Jensen into the bathroom, leaving me alone in the hallway. My stomach growled. Oh. I'd forgotten about eating. I grabbed some leftover bread, making sure I had some fresh food for Jensen and Mariah. Two porkchops, a steak and some mushroom stew. _Ah, it'll do. I can always get some bread from the store later._ After I'd finished my bread I decided it had been a long day, and hit the sack. I was not looking forward to tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6: Minecraft (OPTIONAL)

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I do not own Minecraft. Heaven only knows what crazy stuff would be in the game if I did.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**For anyone who read Chapter 5 before this chapter was posted, please go back and read the last quarter or so. I've changed the story so that the twins stay in Plenty for a little longer. Also, makes Sebastian less suspicious and the whole conversation less awkward.**

**Also, jaketron's OC Shadow will now be in the story, once I find somewhere he'll fit. Yay!**

**NOTE:**

**THIS CHAPTER IS OPTIONAL. IT DOES NOT AFFECT THE STORYLINE. SO DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT THE PLOT NOT PROGRESSING.**

FLIGHT – Chapter 6 ( Minecraft )

- Mariah's POV -

I woke up in a bed.

_Where am I?_

_Oh right._

_Sebastian._

I think I fell asleep on his couch. Oh yeah. Couch. And showers. How does he have showers? Water doesn't even work like that…

I got out of bed and saw that Jensen was still fast asleep. And snoring. Lovely. I was really hungry. I checked my pockets for food.

_Oh wait. I'm wearing Plenty clothes. I guess I'll just have to ask Sebastian for some food._

I remembered the conversation we'd had last night, after I'd woken up from my nap. He blushed the whole time. And he kept staring at me. I'll just pretend it never happened.

I walked out the door, gently closing it behind me, being careful not to wake Jensen. He wouldn't appreciate being woken up this early. Speaking of which, what time was it?

"Hello. I see you're awake," said a voice behind me.

I spun around in a defensive stance. Oh. It was only Sebastian. He looked at my position, slightly surprised, and slightly scared.

"Whoa. I was only saying good morning."

"Sorry," I said, grimacing, "Force of habit."

He shrugged and sat down at his… table? On a chair? I didn't think I'd be able to get over the fact that his house had normal furniture. And all the luxuries of… well… home. Sebastian motioned for me to sit down.

"I've got some porkchops and some mushroom stew."

I laughed. "I haven't had mushroom stew in over a year!"

He blushed. "Oh, uh, sorry, if you don't like it I can…"

"No, it's fine; Actually, I love mushroom stew, I've just never had the chance to go mushroom picking," I assured him.

He looked satisfied (and relieved) with my explanation, and started eating a porkchop.

"So. What's your town called?" he asked.

"Well… it… doesn't have a name," I replied.

"Really?"

"Well, we're pretty much the only town in the area… Well, that's what we thought anyway."

"Then… how did you know to ask me what the city was called when I broke you out of prison? If you've lived in a town without a name, how could you know that other towns had names? Unless, the place you lived before then had a name?"

"Well… I, well, Jensen and I… We lived in… another world, before we moved into that town."

Sebastian started choking on his porkchop.

"Another world!?"

"Uh, yeah. We call it Earth. Or reality."

"You're saying none of this is real."

"No! It's just…"

I sighed. How can I get this across without destroying his view of the world around him, his sense of reality, crushing his ego, and flattening his sense of self-importance?

"It's hard to explain. See, where we come from, this whole world… Is just a game."

"Game? What do you mean?"

I sighed again.

"Do you know what a computer is?" I asked.

"Yeah…?" Sebastian replied slowly.

"Well, we can play lots of pictures on a computer screen really fast in succession, and it will look like a moving picture, okay?"

"Yeah, I know what TV is," he said.

"Okay, well, in games, you can affect the image, and the story. It's sort of like _you're_ one of the characters in a TV show."

"Alright, I think I follow."

"Except, the game that is your world is a sandbox game, so there is no story, and you aren't a specific character. But you can affect the world around you even more than in other games. You can go wherever you want, build, destroy, kill, farm, mine, everything you can do here. The goal is to survive. Just like in real life. The game is called Minecraft."

"Yeah, I think I'm getting it."

"Now, the whole vanilla thing. For us, vanilla means playing the game as you buy it. You don't change anything. But you can get mods, which change the game, usually by adding things to it, like animals, or items, or ores. Well, one of the most popular mods is actually a mod compilation, called Feed The Beast. It adds all the things you've mentioned, like machines, ores, all sorts of stuff. Even bees. It's crazy. It doesn't add furniture, though."

I looked around the room.

"But you might be using a furniture mod."

Sebastian slowly nodded.

"You're crazy," he said.

I sighed. Well, I tried.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Yay! A shorter chapter. I was just having some fun with Mariah trying to explain to Sebastian what Minecraft is. Which is why this chapter is optional. Shadow will probably be introduced next chapter. Because that is when things will happen. Also, I know I haven't stated how old the twins are, that will also be in the next chapter, because Sebastian will ask them!**

**Sebastian: Yes I will! (I've been dying to know)**

**Mariah: Can't I just tell everyone now?**

**Me: No. This is an optional chapter, so it stands to reason that not everyone will read it, and we want everyone to know how old you guys are.**

**Sebastian: What about me? Doesn't anyone want to know about me?**

**All: No. No one cares about you.**

**Sebastian: *cries quietly in the corner***

**Jensen: Actually, there is one thing I'd like to know.**

**Me: What?**

**Jensen: Are Sebastian and Mariah going to be… a… couple?**

**Mariah: NO!**

**Sebastian: *please?***

**Me: We'll see…**

**And on that note,**

**Fare thee well, dear readers.**

**Kestrel Knight.**


	7. Chapter 7: Shadows and Memories

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I do not own Minecraft.**

**If I did, I would be too busy swimming in money (and probably drowning) to write stupid fan fiction. So there.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Thanks so much to everyone who's been reading this. Your support is very much appreciated. No, really, I love you guys. 3 to you all. Also, I hope you guys don't mind me changing the POV's all the time. Because no matter what you think, I'm going to keep doing it, because it helps flesh the story, and it's fun.**

FLIGHT – Chapter 7 (Shadows and Memories)

- Jensen's POV -

I woke up to a rooster crowing. I jumped out of bed, having been suddenly woken. I looked around the room in a panic, and noticed a baby chicken sitting on the end of the bed. Well. Who knew baby chickens were so loud?

_Looks like Mariah's already up. What's that smell? Is that… porkchops and mushroom stew?_

I drifted toward the kitchen, where I found a porkchop and a small bowl of mushroom stew sitting on the table. Sebastian has a table? And chairs? Awesome. Speaking of Sebastian, where is he? And… where's Mariah?

_Meh. Who cares about them? I'm starving…_

I sat down and the table and started eating, when I saw something move outside the window. I got up and looked outside.

_Gee, what a lovely view._

The window looked out onto an alleyway. But I couldn't see the source of the movement. I dismissed it as a shadow, and finished my breakfast. Little did I know how right I was.

When I'd finished my breakfast, I decided to have a look around for Mariah and Sebastian. I checked all the rooms in the house, and decided they must've gone outside. I went out the front door and found a note pinned to the outside of it.

_Good, thinking, Mariah, put the note where I'll never find it._

It supposed it must've been an afterthought, and she couldn't be bothered to go back inside.

I read the note.

"_Jensen,_

_If you're reading this you've obviously noticed you sister is gone, likely with that scum, Sebastian."_

I stopped. Okay, so it wasn't from Mariah. And it wasn't an afterthought. My curiosity was piqued. Could this have been from that 'shadow' I saw outside the window earlier? But how would the guy know my name?

"_You're probably wondering how I know who you are. We'll go over that when we meet. Don't worry about your sister. Sebastian won't try anything so soon."_

Try something? What did he mean, try something? I mean, obviously Sebastian was checking her out yesterday, but…

"_Go out into that alleyway that you can see from the kitchen window, and walk to the end of it. Turn left, and go into the third door on the left. There we can talk in peace."_

Okay, this was getting creepy. I mean, I'm old enough to look after myself, but everything my parents ever told me was right. Don't visit creepy people's houses, lest they murder you. But, he does know my name. And he does know about Mariah. But he could've seen she and Sebastian leave earlier, and have overheard them talking about me.

I went back inside, and put on my diamond armour underneath my Plenty outfit. I grabbed my diamond sword, and, now sure that I was safe, headed outside and down the alley.

_If this was a movie, the epic action movie would be playing right now._

- Mariah's POV -

~ Earlier that day…~

After breakfast, Sebastian showed me his workshop. Jensen would be so jealous. Sebastian started talking about machines and stuff. I was never really good at that sort of thing, so I tuned out, and just played around with some of his contraptions.

"So, want to, uh, go out with me?" Sebastian asked me.

I looked up, startled.

"I'm sorry?" I said, confused.

"Would you like to go out and see the city? I could take you for a tour," he said, repeating his offer.

_Oh. Right. Stupid me. Just out, not on a date…_

"I… sure. Okay."

Sebastian grinned.

"Let's go."

So we headed outside, and started down the street.

"Should we have left a note for Jensen?" I said, thinking aloud.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Sebastian said, almost rolling his eyes.

We continued down the street, and he pointed out various buildings and landmarks. It sure was a big city. Just as he was going through a big speech about this big historical building, I had a rogue yawn. It wasn't because I was tired, or bored. I just yawned.

But, Sebastian noticed it and thought I was getting bored. Which, to be honest I was. He sighed with relief and said, "Thank goodness. I didn't think I could go on much longer. So. How about we do something fun now?"

- Sebastian's POV -

~ Later ~

Well. I'm never going to an amusement park with Mariah again. She _had_ to go on all the scary rides. And, of course, she got couch syndrome about the rollercoasters, and the Ferris wheel. Something about not having gone on a rollercoaster since she was 14 years old.

"How old _are _you?" I asked.

She paused. "20," she answered.

"Really?" I asked.

I was 20. It was perfect. _We_ were perfect. _Slow down, Sebastian, you're getting ahead of yourself. _

"Why, do I look older?" she asked, half-panicked, half-pleased.

Yeah, I should've seen that coming. 20's that awkward age when you're starting to feel old, but still want to look older than you really are. Like a little kid, except even stronger, because of all the privileges you get when you turn 21.

"No, no, you look 20."

I wanted to tell her some other adjectives that described her appearance, but I held them back.

She frowned.

_Good job, lover boy, you completely screwed that one up._

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm just thinking… about my parents. They must be so worried about me."

"Oh, I guess they're back at your town?"

She looked up at me, with tears in her eyes.

_Oh snap. What did I say?_

"I… I don't know _where _they are. Last time I saw them was back home…"

Was she talking about that other world she tried to tell me about this morning?

"The last thing I said to them was that I hated them… I didn't mean it, though. I was just angry…"

_Does that actually happen to people? That's so clichéd, though. 'The last thing we did was fight'. _I hope she wouldn't start telling me her life story. I mean, I felt sorry for her, but wasn't she blowing this out of proportion?

"I was only 16."

Oh. She… hasn't seen them in 4 years? How… did she survive out there? I mean, she has her brother, but…

She started crying, so I did the only reasonable thing to do in that situation.

I hugged her.

I felt oddly proud of myself as this pretty girl I hardly knew stood there crying on my shoulder as I gave her a comforting hug.

_Well. That escalated quickly._

- Jensen's POV -

I stood outside the door the note directed me to. It didn't look like the kind of place I imagined a mysterious shadowy figure would look.

For starters, it was bright pink.

I opened it anyway, and found that all the lights inside were off, making it pitch black. I fumbled around on the wall for a lever, which I found and pulled. The lights flickered on, and I looked around the room.

It looked like it was once a day-care centre, but it was long abandoned. I saw a shadow move.

_There's our mysterious shadowy figure._

"Hello?" I said, closing the door.

The figure pulled into the centre of the room. It was a man wearing a black hooded cloak. I couldn't make out his face, it was being shaded by the hood.

"Hello, Jensen," he said.

His voice sounded eerily familiar. But I couldn't place it.

Suddenly, he threw back his hood.

It was Sebastian. Except with black hair instead of blonde. That's how I knew the voice.

"Sebastian?" I said.

The man shook his head.

"My name isn't Sebastian."

Okay, so he claimed not to be Sebastian.

"Well, what is your name?" I asked.

He looked surprised, like he wasn't expecting to be asked.

"They call me 75982… But… that's not a name," he said.

_They? Who are they?_

"Who?" I asked.

He ignored my question, and looked like he was in deep thought.

"My name is Shadow," he said, suddenly.

"You just made that up, didn't you?" I asked.

Again, he looked surprised.

"Well… yeah. Don't… you like it?"

I shrugged. "It suits you, I guess."

He looked happy, but he didn't really smile.

"So… how do you know who I am? And why do you look and sound so much like Sebastian?"

He paused.

"How much has he told you about the half-bloods?" he asked.

"Well, he told us that they're those who were lost in the siege, and that a wizard turned them back into human form. He also said that they're minds were never fully restored, so they obeyed the wizard in blind obedience," I said.

Shadow laughed.

"So he gave you the story the Council has been spoon-feeding everyone… Well, I suppose that's what he believes. There's no way for him to know the truth."

"The truth?"

Shadow nodded.

"Care to enlighten me?" I asked.

"I will. But… I would prefer for your sister to be here."

"Why?" I asked.

"I'd rather I only had to explain it once, instead of twice."

"Oh. Of course. When… when should I come back?"

"As soon as you and Mariah can. I won't be going outside… for… obvious reasons."

"Alright. I'll try to bring her."

Shadow looked like he was trying to remember something.

"Goodbye," he said, smiling, after a few seconds.

I returned the greeting. "Goodbye,"

Then I left, closing the door after me.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Me: Does this count as a cliffhanger? Some of you might be able to guess who Shadow is, and why he looks like Sebastian. I hope jaketron likes what I've done with his character.

Shadow: I'm sure he does. I mean, I'm amazing, aren't I?

Me: You're meant to be sneaky and evil-ish. So stop saying things like that.

Shadow: Sorry…

Me: *facepalm*

Mariah: I got to be feminine! And cry on Sebastian's shoulder!

Sebastian: I think she likes me…

Jensen: No. Shut up. I'm right here, you know, I don't need to hear any of that. Ugh. This is so wrong…

Sebastian: What did I do? O_o

Jensen: You're hitting on my sister. Need I say more?

Sebastian: Hey, I am not—

Mariah: I'm right here!

Me: SHUT UP!

*sigh*

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Please rate, review, follow and favourite!

Until next time,

Kestrel Knight


	8. Chapter 8: Georgia Groves

**DISLCLAIMER:**

**I do not own Minecraft. If I did, there would be multi-coloured creepers in the game. So there.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Sorry this update took so long! But I have some good news - I now have an unofficial editor! NOT A BETA; an unofficial editor. Actually, it's just one of my friends (you know who you are) going through the stuff and giving me feedback, but an editor nevertheless! Incidentally, he's told me to:**

**1 – Slow down the action**

**2 – Make longer chapters**

**3 – Spoon-feed you information, and give you more of it. **

**And, because I trust his judgement, I will try to follow what he's told me. Mostly.**

**Now, enough dallying, and onto the story!**

FLIGHT – Chapter 8 (Georgia Groves)

- Shadow's POV -

"Goodbye," the man said, returning my greeting, before he left.

I was alone again.

What was his name again?

Jensen. That was it.

Recently, I'd been losing more and more of my memories, and had almost completely lost my connection with Sebastian. Soon I'll be useless, and they'll replace me. I wouldn't be 75982 anymore. I'd just be Shadow. And maybe that was a good thing. But I wouldn't just lose my number. I'd lose my place in the system. I wouldn't belong anymore. They'd probably reassign me as a soldier… Then I'd get a new number, and I'd have to start all over again. No one would call me Shadow, either.

There was something about that man, Jensen. He seemed… a lot like Sebastian. Yet, nothing like him at all. They looked totally different.

Sebastian was blonde, with blue eyes, and pale skin. He's also extremely thin, with hardly any muscle on him.

But Jensen had dark brown hair and matching coloured eyes. He was tan, and he looked like he'd done physical labour before, though he was obviously wearing armour under his clothes, so it was hard to tell how well built he really was.

Yet, there was something about the way they moved, and the way they talked. They seemed like almost the same person.

But maybe I'm just seeing things.

Maybe that's just the disease talking.

- Jensen's POV -

After I left Shadow, I decided to go for a walk around the city before returning to Sebastian's house. I doubted he and Mariah were home anyway.

I made my way down the street, until I found myself outside of a repair shop. I grinned as I walked through the door, and heard a pleasant tinkle from a bell. I looked around the shop, again amazed at the technology the people of Plenty possessed. There were ovens, lights, chairs, microwaves, even computers! I wondered if they had video games in Plenty.

"Hello, sir, can I help you?" I heard a young voice say.

_That must be an apprentice, too young to be the owner, _I thought. _Did he just call me sir? I don't think anyone's ever called me sir before._

I turned around to greet the person who'd spoken, only to find a girl who couldn't be any older than 13 standing there, smiling.

"I… no, I'm… fine…" I stammered.

"Okay, sir. Let me know if you need me," she replied, walking into the workshop at the back of the store.

_She must be the owner's daughter, or something,_ I thought.

I walked over to the doorway.

"What are you doing back there?" I asked.

"I'm trying to fix this clock, but I don't know if I'll be able to. The mechanism that turns the face is a write-off, and the face is faded beyond recognition. The owner can't even remember what they looked like. I think the redstone that was powering it might be run down, too."

I took an involuntary step backwards. That wasn't what I was expecting.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"10," she replied, without looking up.

_Okay, then._

"I own this place," she continued.

I took another step back.

She looked up at me for the first time since she started on the clock. "It was my father's shop, but…" She looked away.

"He's gone now."

I felt sorry for her. I hadn't seen my parents in so long. It must be four years now.

"You're very good at what you do," I told her, changing the subject.

She smiled weakly up at me.

"Thanks."

I could tell my opinion didn't mean a lot to her.

"Do you know anything about flight?" I asked.

She just looked at me for a moment, confused. Then she nodded slowly.

"The scientist who helped the half-bloods, who turned them back, he knew how to make special armour with a combination of magic and science that could give you special abilities if you knew how to use the armour."

"Did you say scientist? I was told it was a wizard."

She laughed, the same way Shadow did when I told him. The kind of laugh you make when you know more than someone else.

"Oh, you mean what the council has told everyone? They're such liars. I don't know how anyone could believe that junk."

"Well, what _did_ happen then?" I asked.

"Well, during the zombie siege, we lost more than half our population. They turned into zombies. Everyone got really upset, because they had to kill so many of the zombies. They knew they could turn them back into people, they'd been working on the antidote for years. But they hadn't perfected it yet."

I was starting to see why they laugh when we tell them the Council's story.

"Then one brave and handsome scientist found the cure, but it was too late. By the way, that was my grandpa."

I was starting to see where this was going…

"Well, Grandpa wanted to show the Council that the antidote could work, but the Council didn't want to let him bring in any zombies. They didn't want to risk it not working. You know how the zombies that used to be people look different from regular zombies?"

I nodded. I definitely saw where this was going.

"And that sometimes zombies just spawn looking like that?"

I nodded again. I'd come across many a zombie spawner.

"Well, they don't just look different. The antidote works on them too. But they don't turn into new people. They'll only turn into people who've become a zombie before. Even if a human form of them already exists."

Shadow! That has to be how he looks just like Sebastian! But that means… Sebastian died, probably in the siege. But…

"When was the zombie siege?" I asked.

"I… It was… 200 years ago. Why?" the girl said.

"Just confirming a hunch. What was your name?"

"My name's Georgia. What's yours?"

"Jensen. Pleased to meet you."

"Trust me," she said, giggling and blushing slightly, "The pleasure's all mine."

"What was your grandpa's name, Georgia?"

"I… I can't remember…"

"I didn't think you would. Is it written down anywhere? Or is there maybe someone you could ask?"

"Well, I think it would be written on his journal…?"

"He kept a journal?"

_Eureka!_

"Yeah, I'll get it for you."

She got up from her seat at the workbench, and went up a ladder to my right. I heard some shuffling, and a chest opening and closing before she descended the ladder once more.

"Here, I found it!" she said, handing me a dusty leather-bound book.

I opened the front cover, looking for a name. _There!_

I read the name aloud:

"Sebastian Groves."

- Georgia's POV -

"Sebastian Groves. Is that your Grandpa's name?" asked Jensen.

"Yeah… I think it is…" I said.

"What did your grandpa look like?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, I don't know, but I think there's a picture in his journal."

Jensen flipped through the journal until he found a picture of Grandpa. He showed it to me.

"You think this is him?" he asked.

I looked at the photo, captioned 'Sebastian, age 67'

"Well," I began, "My dad told me about how Grandpa looked younger when he got back from the half-blood's territory…"

I put a hand over my mouth. _Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone he came back…_

"What is it?" asked Jensen, looking genuinely concerned.

"Well, no one's supposed to know Grandpa came back. We're meant to say he died over there."

I didn't know why I trusted the man as much as I did. Maybe it's because he's obviously a scientist.

He nodded.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Georgia. Thanks for all your help. And good luck with that clock!"

"Well, come back anytime!" I called after him as he left the workshop.

Oh, great. Chances are the Council's going to find out he knows the truth. I'm fine, because I'm just a kid, and they think I'm buying their story… But him?

It's a shame. He was kinda cute.

- Mariah's POV -

After the… incident at the amusement park, Sebastian and I returned to his house.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked for the tenth time.

"I'm fine, Sebastian, I just had a bit of a breakdown. Now will you stop worrying about me?"

He sighed.

"Okay… I guess I've got work to do, anyway…" he said, retreating to his workshop (or lab, as he puts it).

_Finally…_

_Hey…_

_Where's Jensen…?_

I checked the house for him. No sign of him anywhere. He must've gone out. I sat down on Sebastian's sofa.

"Well, I guess I don't have to worry about Jensen disturbing me…" I said, getting ready to relax alone.

Suddenly, Jensen came barrelling through the door, asking where Sebastian was.

"He's in his workshop, why?" I replied.

"Awesome," he said, grinning. "Come with me!"

"What for?" I asked.

"Just come on!" he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me onto the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," he said, jogging down the alley beside the house.

We arrived outside a run-down building on a small street. It was yellow, with a pink door, both colours faded. I looked up at the broken blue sign.

'D NNY'S D YCAR,' the sign read. Looked like some of the letters had fallen off.

Jensen knocked on the door, which opened slightly.

"It's me," he said, "And I brought Mariah."

The door swung open wide enough for us to get in. Jensen walked inside. I sighed and followed him.

"What is that smell?" I asked.

Jensen sniffed the air.

"I can't smell anything," he said.

Then one of the shadows moved. I pulled out my sword, which I conveniently had strapped to my back.

"Mariah! What are you doing? He's not going to hurt you!" said Jensen. "Well, at least I don't think he is…"

The shadow moved towards me.

"Hello," it said brightly. "My name's Shadow!"

I dropped my sword, then scrambled to pick it back up.

"This is Shadow!" announced Jensen. "Shadow, meet Mariah, Mariah, meet Shadow."

I ensheathed my sword again, and hoped that Jensen wasn't being an overtrusting idiot this time.

"So," said Jensen, "I may have already heard some of what you're going to tell us from someone else, but go ahead anyway."

Shadow pulled off his hood, looking bewildered. _Wait a second... is that..._

"Sebastian!?"

"I said I was Shadow, didn't I?"

"But…"

"It's a long story. I'll explain soon. But first…"

Shadow looked at Jensen questioningly.

"Who did you talk to?" Shadow asked.

"Georgia, at the repair shop down the street."

Shadow gasped.

"My grand-daughter!" he exclaimed, then closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Sorry, I mean _Sebastian's_ grand-daughter. It's getting hard to tell which are my memories, and which are his…" he explained.

Jensen nodded, knowingly.

"What are you talking about!? Sebastian has a grand-daughter!?" I asked.

"Long story," they said in unison.

"How much did she tell you?" asked Shadow.

"Enough for me to have pretty much figured out the whole story. But my sister here is completely in the dark, and I'd like some confirmation of what I've learnt. So go ahead with your story."

Shadow took a deep breath, and began.

"Well, it all started with the siege 200 years ago. As you know, Plenty lost over half its population. All those lost were given a disease that brought them to life, but slowly rotted their mind and body."

He sounded like he was reciting a history lesson.

"The Council had been paying big money to many scientists to search for an antidote for the disease that was plaguing their loved ones. One man who refused to help them was Sebastian Groves, a famous scientist. He didn't want to work with the Council, who he knew wouldn't give him any credit, and instead worked on the cure on his own. Unfortunately, the people of Plenty were forced to kill all the zombies, even the ones that were once their family or friends. When the cure was finally discovered by none other than Sebastian, it was too late. Until he made his greatest discovery during a study on the spawning habits of zombies. He remembered that the zombies that were once Plenty citizens looked different than the regular zombies, having smaller frames, larger foreheads and a lighter skin tone. As he studied a zombie spawner, he realised that a small percentage of the zombies spawning were ones that looked like Plenty citizens. So, as an experiment, he made up a batch of the antidote, and tested it on them. And it worked! The zombie became a person again, namely Sebastian's next-door neighbour. It was this that led him to his next discovery – the spawned zombies that were restored could only become people who'd had the disease. This meant that he could pretty much clone himself, and all his loved ones, meaning that, effectively, they could all live forever. Thus the Sebastian that you know being so young, and me looking exactly like him."

I don't think he took a breath while saying any of that.

"That's what I thought," Jensen said, smiling.

"Well, I think that's pretty much it. If you have any questions, you can always come back and ask me."

"Okay, thanks. We're going to go see Georgia now."

"Goodbye," said Shadow, looking oddly proud of himself.

"Bye," I replied.

- Shadow's POV -

I watched Mariah walk out the door with her brother.

What was that odd feeling in the pit of my stomach?

Was it the same thing I knew Sebastian felt every time he saw her?

Being able to see and experience everything that he felt, saw, heard, tasted or even smelt had its advantages. But also its disadvantages. Like now. I wondered if I shared Sebastian's emotions and feelings, instead of just his memories and experiences. Or maybe Mariah just had this effect on everyone.

It was impossible to know.

So I just pushed it to the back of my mind, and tried not to think about it. Unfortunately, I was under orders to link myself with Sebastian and experience what he was as much as possible. Looked like if he was seeing more of Mariah, I would too.

- Sebastian's POV -

I felt something strange. Something I hadn't felt in a long time. The feeling that they'd made another me. I knew I wasn't the first, but I thought I was the only one. But perhaps not…


	9. Chapter 9: Griefer

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I do not own Minecraft. But the world would be a better place if I did.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**JujuCakes' character Lanie will now be in the story! And, yes everyone, I'm still accepting OC's! I've been mega-busy this week, and I know how late this is. I'm so, so sorry, guys! I've just been kinda snowed under. And also, something I forgot to put in the end notes for Chapter 8, I am accepting questions for both me and for the characters! So feel free to either put it in the reviews, or to PM me! **

**Enough daddling, though, ON WITH THE STORY!**

FLIGHT – Chapter 9 (Griefer)

- Mariah's POV -

Everything was kind of a blur after we left Shadow. We visited Georgia, who, incidentally, is a really sweet kid. After that, Jensen hit the market, and bought a boatload of supplies. Then we went back to Sebastian's house, and found he was gone. He didn't even leave a note. Then Jensen started ranting about how this was a perfect opportunity, and told me to start packing all our things into the backpacks we'd brought.

"I'm going to go out and get everything organized," he said, walking towards the door.

"If Sebastian come back while I'm gone, act like I'm still in the house, and stall him until I get back," he continued.

"Stall him!? How!?" I asked.

"I don't know, use your 'womanly ways'," came the reply, then I heard the door open and close.

I was now alone, for the first time in quite a while.

The silence felt extremely unnatural, and when the chicken that had somehow gotten into the room climbed onto me and clucked, I couldn't help but be relieved.

So, as I packed out things away and prepared to leave, I said a mental farewell to Sebastian's house, and wondered what Jensen was planning.

- Sebastian's POV -

There it was. The old daycare centre. How long had it been since I'd gone inside? 40 years? It must be more than that…

No.

I'd never been inside.

That was him, not me.

But I still remember Georgia's beautiful smiling face as she showed me a perfect blueprint for an automatic wheat farm, the likes of which hadn't been seen before.

No.

She didn't show _me_ the blueprint.

It was all him.

I was jealous of the old man.

He had a family, and friends. He was respected by everyone, even he Council. He had pride, and dignity. He was the original. And the best.

I looked sadly up at the old sign, broken and battered, then down at the pink door, once a vibrant hot pink, now almost completely faded away. I placed my hand on the bronze doorknob, and slowly turned it. The door was unlocked, and opened almost effortlessly.

I stepped inside the dim room. I remembered it so well, yet I'd never been inside.

Life has an interesting sense of humour.

I suddenly realised I hadn't thought about Mariah at all for almost an hour. I tried to imagine her as a toddler, sitting happily on the carpet with her brother.

I stumbled back a step.

There's no way.

How… how could…

There's _no way_!

How could Sebastian remember her?

As a _toddler_!

And her brother!

She hasn't been to Plenty before.

And she can't have met Sebastian, or she'd recognise me.

It had to be two other kids.

There's just no way.

But I could see it, I could remember it! It was something about this room, it was bringing back his memories, memories I didn't know he had. And there was something else about this room. Someone else. The other copy.

There'd been a half-blood in this room before I got here.

Sebastian's half-blood.

And they couldn't have gotten far.

- Jensen's POV -

I ran out of the house and down the alley until I was outside the daycare centre. There was something strikingly unusual about it.

The door was open.

I rushed inside.

No sign of Shadow. Nor of anyone else, for that matter.

I walked back outside, bewildered.

And then it hit me.

Well, something did anyway.

As I was knocked backwards into the wall behind me, I saw someone rushing away, holding a bucket. I looked down and saw a small puddle of lava, that must have come out of the bucket when the guy bumped me.

I looked back the way he'd come, and saw what looked like a hot-dog stand. On fire.

I ran towards it.

"What happened?" I asked the angry and bewildered owner.

"Stupid griefer! I don't know how they got into Plenty, but they did, and look what they did to my hot-dog stand!" they said, sounding like they were blaming me.

"I'll be right back," I told him, running towards a nearby refreshment cart.

"Come with me, quickly! I'll need this, too, actually," I said to its owner, taking the cart, and wheeling it to the fire.

I took a two buckets of water from the cart, and poured them on the fire, then handed the owner of the cart a couple of gold pieces.

"For the water, and the trouble I've caused you," I told her.

Her eyes lit up like Christmas had come early. Then her face fell slightly.

"I can't take this…" she said.

"I insist," I told her.

"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"Well, in Plenty, gold is more valuable than diamonds or emeralds. These two pieces would get you something like 6 diamonds."

My eyes widened in surprise.

"Why is it so valuable? Diamonds are far rarer."

"Well, the Council likes gold – a lot. They passed a law that gold be made more expensive for regular citizens, but one tenth the cost for them. Then they bought almost all the gold in Plenty. Pretty much the only way to get gold now is to sell your house and buy a single bar from a travelling merchant."

I shook my head.

"No offence, but the Council seems like a collection of the biggest jerks in Plenty," I told her.

She shrugged and said, "No one disagrees with that, but… well, what can you do?"

Then she smiled, handed back one of the gold pieces and said, "I think I can handle just one."

I took it, and then held out my hand.

"I'm Jensen," I told her.

"Penny," she said, shaking my hand.

"My sister and I… we come from the west," I said.

Her eyes widened and she said, "The west? Isn't that where the wastelands are?"

Did everyone here think that the only thing to the west was a deserted, barren, griefer-infested wasteland?

"Well, no, everyone got that wrong," I said, bluntly.

"Oh. I guess you'd know. What _is_ it like there?" she asked.

"Well, I come from a small town. As far as I know, there are some other towns in the area. When was the last time someone from Plenty actually _went_ to the west?" I said.

"Well… I don't know. We've just learnt about the west in history and geography at school. They didn't really even tell us much."

I nodded. "Well, how much do you know about the north?" I asked.

She looked uncomfortably around, and said, "Just that it's half-blood territory, but if we were wrong about the west, we could be wrong about the north…"

Oh yeah. I didn't even think of that. Why didn't I think of that?

"Do you have any family or anything here?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Just my younger brother, Peter, but we haven't seen each other in years," she said.

"Well, my sister Mariah and I are headed to the north. We're hoping to be able to talk to some half-bloods. But, like you said, there's really no way of knowing what's actually up there. So, do you want to come with us and find out, once and for all?"

Here eyes lit up again.

"Of course! Come with me, I have to pack!" she said, rushing down the street.

I followed her a couple of blocks down the street, until we came to a block of flats.

"Welcome to my place," she said.

"Which flat is yours?" I asked, and she looked confused.

"What… I… All of them," she replied.

"Oh. Wow. Where I come from, people usually only have _one _of these…"

She laughed, and said, "Oh, I only _live_ in one; I'm the landlady here. But, unfortunately, I don't have any tenants right now. That's why I had the stand. It's sort of a back-up for when no-one's renting."

She led me to the first flat on our right, unlocked the door and went inside.

"You can come in," she told me.

I gave a little bow, and stepped over the threshold. It was a very cosy little place. The walls were painted yellow, and were far from bare, covered in photos and paintings. I pointed to a photo.

"Is this your brother?" I asked, looking at the man in the photo.

"Yes, that's Peter. He's 17 now, and already living alone. Our parents left Plenty, almost 8 years ago, when I was only his age. It was hard having to care for him. I worry about him sometimes, if he'll turn out okay. You know, when he grows up."

"I know how he must feel. Mariah and I… well… we haven't seen our parents since we were 16. Four years ago. Not exactly under the same circumstances, but we didn't really have a say in the matter. Neither did they."

I suddenly realised I was telling her my life story, and stopped.

"Well, I'll let you pack. We're staying with Sebastian Groves, do you know him?"

"Oh, that scientist guy? Ugh, he's so arrogant. I bet he changed his name to Sebastian Groves, just so he could have the same name as the famous one. I haven't seen him for a while. I guess eh hasn't moved, though. It's not far from here, right?"

I nodded.

"If he happens to be at home when you get there, just stall outside for a while. We don't want him to find out we're leaving. I'll explain later," I told her.

"Okay. Bye," she said.

I left her flat, and walked back to the hot dog stand that was previously on fire. The owner smiled and waved at me. I felt popular. I hadn't felt popular since… well… ever. Back on Earth, I'd always been the loser. The geek. No one really liked me. I spent most of my time with Mariah. I really only had one friend. His name was Lucas. When Mariah and I came here, we weren't really on speaking terms. I wish I'd sorted things out before it happened.

As I walked down the street, thinking about home, something hit me. Again. And I was pretty sure it was the same guy as the first time.

The only difference was that this time, they fell over, not me.

I looked at the man lying on the ground. Medium height and build. Nothing special. I couldn't see their face, but I could see a lock of brown curly hair coming out from under the hood of their cloak. They kind of reminded me of Shadow. I wondered if he might know them. Probably not.

The man rolled over slightly, giving me a view of part of his face.

"Ugh… what happened…?"

His voice was pretty feminine. He didn't really sound like a girl, he just sounded quite young.

I looked at his face. Come to think of it, he _looked_ pretty feminine, too. Delicate nose, long eyelashes… soft-looking lips…

Oh snap.

Ugh.

What's wrong with me?

"Are you okay? You ran into me," I said, taking his hand to help him up.

"Hey! Get off me!" he said, pulling his hand away and standing up.

Then he took his hood off.

Oh.

Oops.

Well, I feel somewhat justified.

He's a girl.

I mean, _she's_ a girl.

"Are you okay, miss?" I asked.

She just glared at me, then looked around.

"Where is it?" she asked herself, looking slightly worried.

I looked downwards, and saw flint-and-steel sitting by my left foot. I picked it up and handed it to her.

"Is this what you're looking for?" I asked.

She snatched it out of my hand, and glared at me. Oh brother. Looks like we have a feisty one.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my merry way," I said, walking off.

She grabbed my arm.

"Wait. You're the guy I bumped into earlier, aren't you?" she said.

I turned around slowly.

"Yeah…? Why?"

"It's just… the way you helped that guy… with his stand…" she said, looking at the ground.

"Oh, uh, it was nothing…" I said, blushing. Wasn't this the griefer that set it on fire in the first place?

She punched me in the gut.

That would be a yes, then.

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT INTERFERING LIKE THAT!" she yelled at me, then punched me again.

"You do realise I'm wearing diamond armour, right? This is probably hurting you more than me," I pointed out.

"THAT WAS REVENGE! I HAD PERSONAL REASONS FOR THAT! AND YOU JUST HAD TO THROW IT_ ALL_ AWAY, DIDN'T YOU!?"

"Look, I don't know why you're still punching me, but as I said, I'll be on my merry way. What was your name?"

She stopped, and smirked at me. _What have you gotten yourself into, Jensen?_

"Lanie. Pleased to meet you," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Jensen. Pleasure's all mine." _Why are you ENGAGING her in CONVERSATION, Jensen!? WHY!?_

"You're not from around here, are you?" she asked.

"Uh, no, actually."

"I can tell. You're so tall… and tan…"

Was she trying to manipulate me? I think she was. Lucky for me, I don't fall for that so easily. She's _so_ not my type.

"And I can tell you're really smart. You must be a scientist… an inventor…"

Okay. _This_ was a little better. But still pretty manipulative.

"I _love_ smart guys. They're just my type…" she said, now getting uncomfortably close to me.

"Really? I thought you would like griefers better. I've never believed in the phrase 'opposites attract', unless we're talking about magnets."

Yes, it was a low blow, but it seemed to work. She took a massive step back, and looked me straight in the eye.

"Are you calling me a griefer?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Well, you're correct. Just, uh, don't tell anyone," she said, winking at me, then slinking into a nearby alleyway.

Well…

That was…

Quite the experience…

I noticed Penny racing down the street out of the corner of my eye. She had a hiker's backpack on her back, and was bumping into people with every other step she took. She saw me and waved, accidentally hitting about five people in the face as she did so, still running. I winced slightly as I waved back. She arrived in front of me, and literally skidded to a stop, panting.

"Hi," she said, between breaths.

"Hello. I, uh, never quite made it back. I got… caught up," I said.

She just nodded, too short of breath to speak.

"Well, let's get going, then," I said, and we continued down the street.

As we walked to Sebastian's house, we were talking and pointing out the surroundings, until the walk almost felt like a date – fun, intimate, and over way too soon.

When we arrived, I told her to wait outside, while I checked if Sebastian was home. There was no sign of him, and Mariah told me he hadn't come in my absence, so I told Penny to come inside.

- Mariah's POV -

When Jensen finally returned, he ran into the house, frantically asking if Sebastian was, or had been here. I told him no to both questions, and he ran back out, grinning like a madman. He came back in with a girl, a few years older than us, with long black hair, glasses and a petite frame. If such a thing were possible in the Minecraft realm, I'd say she was of Asian background, probably Chinese. She had on a white hoodie with a picture of a diamond on it, a plain red baseball cap, and a pair of denim shorts. She also had an enormous hiker's backpack on her back, which looked really out of place on such a petite girl, but somehow, she made it work.

Needless to say, I was jealous.

I mean, I already had one painfully obvious admirer, but no girl is truly satisfied with her appearance. This girl, however looked like she knew she was perfect, and simply didn't care. It also seemed like Jensen might've been harbouring a small schoolboy crush for her, a glamorous older woman. In different circumstances, I might have found this whole thing funny. But we were about to leave to go north, and my genius twin brother just _had _to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to bring _her_ along.

Good job, Jensen.

- Penny's POV -

He never said they were twins.

It was obvious, though – they had the same dark brown hair, same eyes and nose, same complexion. Same chin, same cheeks. They even had the same build and height.

She was pretty.

Really pretty.

Needless to say, I was jealous.

Knowing Sebastian, he'd probably fallen for her by now.

Not that I really knew Sebastian.

I think any guy would have the same reaction to… this.

Suddenly my backpack felt three times heavier, knowing I'd be travelling with her. That wasn't entirely a bad thing; I mean, I knew she was probably a really nice person, but that just made it worse. Knowing my luck, she's probably perfect. Obviously, I wouldn't have to compete with his sister, but I didn't feel like I'd ever be able to really like her.

And I try to like people.

I usually succeed.

But…

My first impressions are rarely wrong.

- Lanie's POV -

It was that _guy _again. The one that had been hanging out with that creep. What was he calling himself now? Shadow. He should really watch where he's going next time. It's just better for all of us. His house would probably be burning right now, if he wasn't so obviously disturbed by my… attempts at 'convincing' him not to tell anyone about me.

I found him intriguing.

I was planning to stay in Plenty long enough to… 'visit' some relatives, but it looks like I'll be following this punk instead.

I tried to remember his name. I remembered I didn't like it.

Jensen.

That was it.

I'd better start looking, if I want to get him before he leaves. He had a vibe around him that gave it away. He'd be leaving tonight. And he wasn't going to tell anyone.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**There we go, a nice long chapter for everyone, to make up for it being so late. You'd better be happy – I've put off my homework for 2 days to do this. But thanks to everyone who's reading this, you're absolutely **_**marvellous**_**, darlings. Anyway, just want to remind you all that I'm still accepting OC's, and you can—**

**Jensen: Ask us questions!**

**Penny: Or you can ask kestrelknight questions – we don't mind**

**Lanie: *whistles***

**Mariah: I'm going to savour our access to a shower…**

**Penny: Hi!**

**Jensen: … Hello…?**

**Well, bye guys!**

**Until Chapter 10!**

**Kestrel Knight**


	10. Chapter 10: Going North

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I don't own Minecraft. Goodness knows I wish I did...**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Woohoo! Over 200 views!? No way! You guys are awesome! Please keep reviewing, so I know what you think, and how to improve. A very special thanks to jaketron and cowmaiden, my loyal followers. You rock! Anyway, you can still PM me, or put in a review to ask me or the characters your questions! Anyway, this chapter is quite short, as I've been swamped with homework (as usual) but I should be able to upload another soon, so never fear! That's really all I have to say, so ONTO THE STORY!**

FLIGHT - Chapter 10 (Going North)

- Penny's POV -

We left at two in the morning, even though for some reason Sebastian hadn't returned. Jensen didn't seem worried about it, though. He seemed like he'd been expecting the guy not to come back. Plenty was pretty much empty when we left, or at least, that's how it seemed. Everyone was asleep, save for a few drunks, teenagers, and general night wanderers. Most of the guards were asleep, too, and the rest half-asleep, making it much easier to get out without too many questions. They must've been near the end of their shift. As the clock struck two, they hurried us away, and turned in for the night.

And so I left the city I grew up in for the very first time.

As we walked away from the gates, Jensen grinned at me.

"You've never left, have you?"

"Is it that obvious?" I groaned.

He just nodded, still grinning.

Mariah pointed north.

"I think I can see a light in the distance," she said.

"Good. That gives us something to walk towards," Jensen replied.

I looked at him. He was five years younger than me. Not even old enough to drink in some regions. He was a strange kid. An odd mixture of being really mature, while acting like someone half his age. But he was kind. I could tell by the look in his eyes when he came to get the water from me. It was like he did that kind of thing all the time.

Mariah unsheathed her sword, which had been strapped to her back.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling for the sword that I'd been keeping in my backpack.

"Skeletons. Armoured. Right up there."

I looked where she was pointing, and couldn't see anything but a bunch of shadows. Jensen, however, trusted her judgement enough to take out a bow. His quiver was strapped to his belt.

"Here, drink this," Jensen said, tossing me a bottle. It was labelled, but I couldn't read it in the dark. I drank it anyway.

Suddenly I could see as easily as if it were daytime.

I looked down at the bottle.

_Night Vision Potion_, it read.

Ah. I see.

"Where did you get this?" I asked him.

"I brewed it myself," he said proudly.

"How!?"

"Wait... Don't you have potions in Plenty?" Mariah interjected.

"No!"

"Looks like Plenty's missing out on some of the best things about vanilla," she said to her brother, laughingly.

- Mariah's POV -

"Get ready. We're coming into range," I told my companions.

I looked over at them, and was surprised to see that Penny had a sword. A diamond sword.

Unfortunately, while I was distracted by its sudden appearance, two of the skeleton scored at me. One arrow to the leg, one to the arm. I felt myself drop my sword. I frantically went to pick it up again, while Jensen and Penny ran toward the skeletons, screaming. Great. Now every monster for 10 miles would come for us. Oh well. I've always enjoyed a challenge.

I pulled the arrows out, and ran to help them.

We slashed at them, until they were nothing but a heap of bones.

"Penny, where did you learned to fight like that?" I asked her.

She grinned.

"My grandfather was a knight. One of the last ones. He taught my father, who taught me. This is my grandfather's sword. He called it Diamondio. Not very creative, I know."

"I didn't know there ever were any knights."

"Yeah, it seems kind of strange now. They even rode around on horses."

Jensen facepalmed.

"That's what I forgot! I was going to try and get us some horses!" he said.

"Good job, Jensen."

"Well, actually... Plenty does have quite the thriving black market..." Penny said.

She paced her backpack and sword on the ground, and rummaged around inside the former before pulling out a dozen strangely coloured eggs.

"No way," Jensen breathed. "Spawn eggs?"

So that's what they were. I'd heard of them, but always assumed that they were just a myth. Apparently not.

She nodded, and tossed an egg to each of us.

Jensen immediately smashed his onto the ground. Nothing happened. Suddenly, a horse appeared in front of him, looking at with what I assumed was confusion.

Jensen squealed like a seven year old girl, who'd just gotten a pony for her birthday. Which was almost correct, except he was a twenty year old man who'd just gotten a horse, not a pony, and it wasn't his birthday. So, basically, it was nothing like that situation apart from the squeal.

He tried to climb onto its back, but to no avail. Feeling sorry for him, I walked over to the horse, and offered him a boost up. He looked relieved, and I knelt on the ground, my hands linked together palms-up in front of me. He placed a foot on them, and I pushed him up. He swung one leg over the side of the horse. And then the other leg. He was now lying on the ground on the other side of the horse.

"Maybe I should take this one. It is a little larger than normal," Penny said graciously.

Jensen got up, and motioned for her to go ahead. She placed both hands on the horse's back, and used her upper body strength to hoist herself up high enough ton swing one leg over the horse. Soon she was sitting on it like a pro. Jensen quietly applauded.

"I guess it's my turn now, then?" I asked.

The two of them nodded.

I sighed, and tossed down the egg I'd placed on the ground when giving Jensen a boost.

Suddenly, a beautiful Thoroughbred stood in front of me. I copied what I'd seen Penny do to get on, and soon was sitting on top of my horse. Penny smiled, and tossed Jensen the egg that what supposed to be for her. He threw it on the ground, and a grey horse with black spots stood in front of him. It was somewhat smaller than mine and Penny's.

He got onto it without much trouble, having learned from our success, and was happily sitting on the horse. Before it threw him. He found himself on the ground again, much to our amusement. He triumphantly took a piece of sugar out of his pocket, and gave it to the horse, then tried again. This time the horse neighed happily when he got on.

"I think she likes you," Penny said, giggling slightly.

"Only because you cheated..." I accused.

"I think I'll name her... Spirit," Jensen said.

"Well then, mine will be called Beauty," said Penny, referencing her horse's black colour.

I glanced between its legs, and said, "You know it's male, right?"

She feigned indignance, and said, "Guys can be beautiful too."

"Yeah, sis, don't be so narrow-minded!" Jensen joked.

I rolled my eyes and said, "We should get going now. We don't want to be surprised by a creeper."

"But you haven't named yours!" Jensen protested.

"I swear, Jensen, you haven't gotten a day older since you were five."

"Do I look _that_ young?" he replied, winking at Penny, who blushed.

- Sebastian's POV -

There he is...

Is that a horse?

Where did he get the money for a horse?

And where's he going?

I stood watching the only way out if Plenty - the gate. It was two-thirty in the morning, and apparently, the guards who were supposed to take that shift hadn't arrived yet. I'd been watching for almost 20 minutes now, and he was the second person to leave while the guards were gone. The first was a girl with shoulder-length brown hair, and a hooded cloak, much like Shadow's. I wondered if she was here for the same reason, and if they were going to the same place.

I watched Shadow ride his horse out of the gate, and hid behind a house when he turned back to see if he was being followed.

Not realising that he was, he left.

- Lanie's POV -

It felt good to be travelling again, even if it was on foot this time. I was starting to get restless back in Plenty. Or maybe I'm just making up excuses for leaving. For following them.

I wished I had some form of transport. A car would be nice, but even a horse would do.

Suddenly, someone came galloping up behind me, towards the three travelers I was following. I swear they did a double-take when they saw me. They probably weren't expecting anyone else to be outside of Plenty at this time if night. But they kept going towards their goal without even slowing down.

Shadow.

I should've expected him to go after them and steal my thunder. Hopefully he didn't recognise me.

I adjusted my bag, a large satchel slung over my left shoulder, uand hanging down my right side. It seemed lighter than usual. I looked inside it, to find all my gold missing.

Jensen.

That son of a gun.

He actually managed to steal it from right under my nose.

Under normal circumstances, I'd be angry.

Under normal circumstances, I'd swear to murder him.

But these weren't normal circumstances.

I was impressed. I couldn't believe it was him.

But there was no one else who could've.

That scientist... nerd... whatever guy stole my gold.

As sickening as it is to say it, that makes him ever so much more attractive. And I thought he was actually disgusted by me. But no. He was stealing my gold.

Now I really had to catch up to him.

I looked again in my bag.

Son of a... gun.

He stole _all _my valuables.

Including my swiftness, invisibility and strength potions

And my spare boots, with swiftness and agility enchantments.

There was no way I could catch up to him.

Maybe murder was an option, after all.

I took a final look in my bag.

Ender chest?

How did that get there?

How did that _fit _in there. It was colour-coded, so I knew it must've comke from Plenty. So Jensen bought some Ender chests and stuffed one in my bag. Those things were expensive. There were only so many combinations you could make...

I opened the chest, and found a single egg inside.

Spawn egg.

As a griefer, I was no stranger to these.

Just this particular variation.

Monster ones I knew all too well, so this must be a friendly mob.

I threw it on the ground, fully expecting a cow or pig.

But no.

Horse.

It was pure white, and the perfect size for me.

I mounted it, and proceeded to ride off into the north, following the man who stole my gold - among other things...

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Yay! Somewhat shorter chapter!**

**I'd give you guys a longer end note, but I have homework to do, and it's past midnight already. So yeah.**

**Don't forget to keep sending in questions and characters!**

**Your support is much appreciated!**

**If this chapter seemed weird, it's because I'm tired. Just saying.**

**Well, I have work to do, so:**

**PEACE OUT!**

**Until the next chapter,**

**Kestrel Knight xxx**

**Jensen: Heh heh heh… Bet you thought I was all innocent and nice, huh? Well, you thought wrong…**


	11. Chapter 11: Harenam

**DISCLAIMER:**

**I don't own Minecraft! I swear! Please don't sue me… *whimper***

**Author's Note:**

**Well, hello there, FanFiction! Long time no see! I'm so, so, SO sorry! It's been ages since I last posted! I have a WordPress site that I've been tending to (kudos if you've visited it), so I sort of forgot about you guys… Sorry!**

FLIGHT – Chapter 11 (Harenam)

- Penny's POV -

"Wait, did you say you were naming your horse Beauty?" asked Jensen.

"Yes, why?" I replied.

"Where'd you get the name?" he asked, sounding like he was confirming a suspicion.

"From a book called Black Beauty."

"Are you…"

I sighed.

"Yes. I'm from the real world," I told him, finishing his question for him.

"But… Do you know how you got here?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I was only three, apparently. Before the game ever existed. Peter was born here. My entire family got shifted over," I tell him.

"How do you know about the game, then?" Mariah asked.

I paused. _How did I know about the game? Good question…_

"From Sebastian, I think," I replied.

"Sebastian!? How does _he_ know?" said Jensen.

"Um… well…" said Mariah.

"Oh, not the one you're staying with. The first one."

"As in… the original?" asked Jensen.

I nodded.

"That must have been at least two hundred years ago!" Mariah said, stopping her horse.

"Wait… You don't know the whole story, do you?" I asked.

- Jensen's POV -

"I was under the impression that we did, in fact, know the whole story. But I've been wrong before. So please, enlighten us," I said to Penny.

She looked a little uncomfortable.

"I, uh, don't think I'm supposed to tell anyone…" she replied.

"I'm sure you'll find out soon, though," she continued.

"Okay," I said, giving my horse a little kick to get it going.

"Jensen! How can you just leave it at that!?" Mariah questioned.

"Because I trust her," I replied, looking at Penny, who blushed.

Mariah rolled her eyes, and got her horse to gallop ahead of us.

"Thank you," Penny said.

"For what?" I asked.

"For trusting me that much. It really means a lot."

"Well, I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but you're welcome."

She laughs, and says, "Race to the light!"

She gallops ahead, and past my sister. I laugh and go after her.

- Lanie's POV -

_Are they socialising? I think they're socialising._

I was now invisible, thanks to the fact that I always keep spare potions on my person. Instant Health in my left boot, Invisibility in my right boot, Strength in my side pockets, Swiftness in my back pocket. Everything I need right now. As long as I didn't make any loud noises. My horse had also consumed an invisibility potion, via an apple. Drugging animals. Not my finest hour.

I could see my horse, of course, because you can see something that's invisible when you touch it. That means I can't touch any of them, though.

I saw them gallop away one by one, and I galloped after them, until I was riding side by side with Jensen.

Just for fun, I got my horse as close I can to his, and tapped him on the shoulder, then moved away.

He jumped, then looked around wildly.

"Hello, sweetie," I say.

He turns towards me, and I almost think he can see me, but I take a closer look at his eyes, and can tell he's seeing through me, looking past me. It's an odd feeling.

As I look into his eyes, I can see his confusion, but I can also see something else. Something stronger. An emotion. I pride myself on my ability to read people's emotions, but this wasn't one I'd seen before, and so probably hadn't experienced either.

Love.

- Jensen's POV -

"Did you hear that?" I asked Penny and Mariah.

"Hear what?" they asked.

"Never mind. Just the wind, probably."

I looked out into the darkness. I could've sworn I felt someone tap me on the shoulder and say River Song's catchphrase, "Hello, Sweetie." It must have been someone from the real world… Unless it was just a coincidence. Or I was just imagining it.

I looked back at Penny, who was riding like a pro. There was something about the way she was leaning forward, holding the horse's mane… adjusting for each bump and bounce… It made her seem even more beautiful.

She turned back to look at me, and I quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at her. I now understood how Sebastian felt.

- Sebastian's POV -

_Where did they go? _Shadow and that girl had both disappeared. I looked away for a few seconds and they disappeared. Figures.

Something deep inside of me ached. Mariah. She was gone, presumably with Jensen. Making their way northward to uncover guarded secrets that were better left alone. Sounds like a bad action/adventure movie…

I stopped walking. The sun was coming up. Morning at last.

I yawned, tired from a lack of sleep, and decided that the exact location I was standing seemed like a good place to rest.

I laid down on the soft sand, and pushed thoughts of Mariah from my mind as I drifted to sleep; to pleasant dreams.

The next morning I was rudely awakened by a pig. Licking my face.

I shot up in place, and shoved the pig away, much to its dismay. I stretched and grabbed my things, before moving on towards 'The City in the Sand': Harenam.

I hoped Mariah wouldn't meet anyone there that… Well, you know what I mean.

- Mariah's POV -

He's the one. I just know it.

We'd arrived at our destination, the mysterious light, which we could now see was a walled city that looked identical to Plenty, except that it was made of sand, sandstone, birch wood and wool. Plenty, on the other hand was made of stone, cobble, gravel, various woods and coloured wools.

There were also no guards in this place, just a huge gate which was conveniently raised, despite it being 4 in the morning.

We cautiously walked in and looked around. One of the first things I noticed was the amount of graffiti on one building in particular. I read the sign out the front. The prison. It was in exactly the same place as Plenty's jail.

"This is eerily familiar…" Jensen said.

"Yeah, it's exactly the same as Plenty, except… yellower…" Penny agreed.

"What do you think this place is called?" I asked.

"Why, hello there! What's a beautiful girl like you doing in a dump like this?" asked a voice behind me.

I spun around.

In front of me stood a man who looked about a year older than me, at least six feet, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile to die for.

"Lucas?" said Jensen.

"Jensen? Is that you?" he said.

"Uh, yeah… Wha-what are you doing here…?" Jensen said, starting to hyperventilate and stuttering for the first time since we came here.

"I could ask you the same question, but I, _friend_, live here," Lucas told him, his voice bitter and spiteful. He glanced at me, and winked.

Ugh. So not my type.

"Look, Lucas, I'm not proud of what happened… I was glad when I came here – it… it gave me a chance to start over, to change myself," Jensen said.

I was surprised. He'd never told me anything like that.

Penny glanced at me, then back at the guys, gently biting her bottom lip.

Lucas grunted. "Oh, yeah, tell me you're sorry _now_, in front of your _girlfriend_…" he said, sounding like a middle-schooler.

Penny blushed. I guess she likes Jensen, then…

"Fine, you don't have to believe me," Jensen said to him, scowling. He motioned to Penny and me.

"Come on. We're going," he told us in a commanding tone.

"Whoa, man. You're not in charge here. Maybe your sister wants to stay… socialise a little…" Lucas said, grinning and winking at me.

"You know, I really wish you'd take your foot out of your mouth before you swallow it," I told him.

"Whoa! Should've known the…" Lucas glanced at Jensen. "Puppy…" he continued awkwardly. "Should've known the puppy could bite…"

I glared at him, and followed Jensen and Penny away.

"I think I remember learning a little about this place in history…" Penny said.

"Really? What did you learn?" Jensen asked.

"Well, it's called Harenam, which is Latin for 'the sand'. Back in the day, it was a major trading city, but I had no idea it still existed. Looks like it has quite the nightlife, too."

I listened to the distant thumping bass, and nodded.

"Hey, man! What's up? And what's… down!" said a drunk youth, laughing and slamming a hand down onto Penny's shoulder. She brushed him off.

"Anyway, we were taught that after the zombie sieges, Harenam was lost. That it was taken over by the half-bloods, and used as their 'base of operations', so to speak."

"Half-bloods? Wuuuuut? _Whaaarrrr? _Lemme addem!" said the drunk, his fists swinging wildly, before he collapsed unconscious.

"Looks like they're as opposed to the half-bloods as the people in Plenty," I said.

"You can say that again," said a voice behind us. Do all people like to approach random strangers and comment on conversations they were never even meant to hear? Because it sure seems like it.

I turned around, and saw him. Dark hair and eyes, a couple of inches taller than me, with a kind expression on his face. He was wearing a white t-shirt, a red suit jacket, black cargo pants and red sneakers. He was perfect.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Scott Anderson," he said, putting out his hand for me to shake, which I did.

"I'm Mariah Brown. Pleased to meet you," I said.

"Pleasure's all mine, Mariah," he said, bowing.

I laughed, which warranted a sidelong glance from Jensen and a grin from Penny.

"You must be form Plenty, then," said Scott.

Jensen replied, "Well, Penny here is, but my sister and I… Not exactly."

"Well," said Scott, "I'm intrigued! You don't have anywhere to stay, do you?"

"Well, no," Penny told him.

"Then I'll have to fix you up somewhere to stay! Trust me, I know all the best places," he said.

In the back of my mind, I was surprised that he wasn't taking us in like Sebastian did, but I was sort of relieved we wouldn't be living with him.

"Hey, maybe you can stay in the same hotel as me!" he said, grinning.

Okay, scratch that.

"You're staying in a hotel?" Jensen asked.

"Yes, I'm from further north."

There was an awkward silence.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," began Jensen, "but what exactly _is_ further north?"

"Well, I live on the outskirts of Obitus, the half-blood's city," he explained, "But I'm not really sure what's inside there. I've never been able to get close enough; the guards keep 'escorting' me back home."

"Obitus?" I asked, "Isn't that Latin?"

"Yes, all the cities around here seem to have Latin names. Obitus means death, by the way."

"Doesn't it also mean 'setting' or 'last day'?" I asked, smirking slightly.

"Actually, come to think of it, it does. That's probably what they were going for when they named it…" Scott replied, laughing.

I noticed that the sun was rising.

"Looks like the sun's finally come up…" I commented.

"Don't you mean 'sol ortus sit'?" Scott joked, looking me right in the eyes. I swear I felt my heart flutter.

"Very funny," I said, looking at the ground, blushing furiously.

~ ~ THE REAL WORLD ~ ~

"It's been four years now…" she said sadly. "Do you think they're even still alive?"

"There's always hope, darling," her husband replied.

"I just… It's hard…" she told him, her eyes tearing up.

"I know, honey… I know…" he told her, holding her close as she cried on his chest.

Claire was outside, trying to remember them; Jensen and Mariah. She'd only met them once, but she'd liked them – that much she remembered. They were truly kind.

The Browns had adopted her four years ago, shortly before their own children had disappeared. They'd been devastated, and she'd stood by them, a faithful daughter. She couldn't remember much of her own parents, who'd been killed in a car accident when she was only 2, leaving her orphaned. Sometimes at night, though, she thought she could hear her father whispering in her ear, telling her how beautiful she was, and how much he loved her. Those were the nights she'd wake up crying and screaming, and the Browns would hold her until she'd calmed down. She loved them, she really did, but they weren't her parents, and never would be, just like the way Jensen and Mariah would never be her brother and sister, especially now that they were gone.

When the twins had disappeared, she'd made a promise to herself that she would find them, and bring them back to their parents. It didn't matter that she was only eleven, and couldn't really do a whole lot. Now she was fifteen, and would turn sixteen in a few days. She almost felt guilty – the twins were sixteen when it happened.

Claire stood up, and walked inside, where Mrs Brown was now preparing dinner, her cheeks still damp. She approached her mother slowly, and took one of her hands. Mrs Brown looked up at her, slightly surprised.

"I will find them, Mother, and soon. I promise," Claire told her.

Mrs Brown burst into tears, and her husband walked over, and hugged her, smiling sadly at Claire, who walked away quietly.

She hadn't been joking, nor had she been lying. She _would_ find them, no matter what it took.

She laid down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, which had a crack in it. _That wasn't there before…_she mused to herself. _But, I suppose cracks have to appear sometime,_ she reasoned.

She closed her eyes, and ignored her parents' voices, as they told her how tall she was getting, then drifted to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

**Woot! If you've read a certain ongoing story on my WordPress site, you'll know that I tend to end real-life scences/chapters with people falling asleep (*teehee*, self plug). Especially if the scene's written in the third person. So what do you think of Jensen and Mariah's family? I was tempted to give them a biological sibling, but I decided against that idea. Also, put in the reviews where you think the story will (or should) go! Remember that you can ask me and the characters any questions, and I'm still open to OC's. Now that they've moved onto a new city, I could use some more characters. If you know what the deal is with Obitus, or if you know what's up with Claire (Hint: She's turning sixteen soon), then tell me your guesses! I'm interested in what you guys think, so don't be afraid to speak up, whether your criticism is positive or negative.**

**I love you all,**

**~~Kestrel Knight**


	12. Chapter 12: Bittersweet Sixteen

**DISCLAIMER:**

***ahem***

***pulls out scroll***

**Thou shalt nay sue-eth moi, for I nay be-eth of ownership of the game that thou call-eth Mine-eth-craft-eth. You should really know that by now. (how's **_**that**_** for random?)**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**If you're reading this, good on you. I'm impressed. I don't really expect you to read this, nor do you have to, so you're awesome.**

**Anyway, the story of this chapter and the process of writing it is a long and treacherous one. I'll spare you the gory details, and leave it at: corrupted files, a promise to my editor and a lot of hard work. This is the longest chapter yet, to make up for the absence of new stuff prior to the release of Harenam.**

**Big kudos if you know where I got the White Russian scene from. You're automatically my favourite person ever.**

**No Name Guy's OC, RB, will now be in the story.**

_**Important stuff: Time passes differently in the Minecraft realm to the real world. Like Narnia. Also, I do some crazy time-warping in this chapter.**_

FLIGHT – Chapter 12 (Bittersweet Sixteen)

_~ The Minecraft Realm ~_

_=Lanie's POV =_

I hitched my horse. Lincoln, a few hundred metres away from Harenam, near where Jensen, Mariah and that other girl had hitched theirs, and walked towards the city. Unfortunately, I'd run out of invisibility potions a few hours earlier.

As I approached the city, only slightly surprised at its lack of security. A party destination like that would just be putting people off by having guards.

As I went through the gate, I found myself on a main street, busy with people walking to work or school.

After a minute or two of surveying my options, I decided to head into the bar that was across the street from where I was standing.

I walked inside, pleasantly surprised at the comfortable atmosphere, and sat down at the counter. The bartender was busy with another customer, so I sat waiting. A few seats to my right sat a girl in a light blue hoodie, shorts over leggings, and blue and green sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail.

Suddenly, a boy with brown hair wearing a green suit slid into the seat right beside me. He had the letters RB on the front of his suit. I ignored him, and looked away.

"Hey, baby," he said, "You're quite the thief!"

I slowly turned towards him.

"Excuse me?" I said.

"I'm just saying, you must be - you stole my heart!"

I rolled my eyes and went back to ignoring him.

He coughed.

"Hey, can I, uh, get you a drink?" he asked, smiling sheepishly.

I turned to him once more.

"You're a kid. You can't even buy yourself a drink. Actually, scratch that, you already did. You're obviously drunk," I told him.

"I'm not drunk, I'm just intoxicated by you," he said, grinning.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm a teenager. Can't you tell?"

The bartender came over, and asked, "What'll it be, gorgeous?"

"White Russian," I replied, despite the fact that I was really too young to be having an alcoholic drink.

He looked confused. "I don't know that, how do you make that?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

The bartender smiled then turned to my 'companion'.

"Hey, nice one. Glamorous older woman, huh?"

"That depends, Ricardo, on what the lady says," the kid said, wiggling his eyebrows at me, in a manner that I assumed was meant to be attractive, but ended up being childish and silly.

"No," I said simply.

"So, RB, shall I get you the usual?" the bartender asked him.

He nodded, then turned to me.

"Well, you know my name, so how about you give me yours," he said, eyebrows once again wiggling.

"Delores," I lied.

"Well, that's a new one. Can I call you Delly?"

"No."

The bartender returned, and placed an orange drink in front of the boy.

"Lightly sparkling?" the latter asked.

"Of course," replied the bartender, bowing, then leaving to serve someone else.

Satisfied, RB downed the drink in one go.

"What _was _that?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"Orange Cool-Aid," he replied.

I rolled my eyes and looked away. Of course it was a non-alcoholic drink. Silly me. What was I thinking?

"If you'll excuse me," I heard the boy say. I turned to see him slide out of his seat and over to the girl in the hoodie.

"Hey, baby, do you happen to have heaven's phone number?" he asked her.

She looked at him, a little confused. She looked about fifteen.

"No?"

"Oh, that's too bad," he began, "I was going to call heaven to let them know they've lost one of their angels…"

She blushed, and laughed.

"I guess I'm just going to have to keep you," he said.

"Well, kid, you're so sweet, you're giving me a cavity," she told him with a smirk.

He laughed and took out his phone, pressing buttons and looking frustrated.

"There's something wrong with my phone…" he said, looking up at her.

"Let me guess. It doesn't have my number?" she ventured, smiling.

"No, uh, there really is something wrong with it. It's not turning on…" he said, still looking at it, confusion replacing the frustration on his face.

"Oh. Right," said the girl, blushing more than ever.

If the whole bar hadn't become so awkwardly quiet, I would've laughed.

Instead, I looked away and suppressed a girlish grin. When I looked back, the girl was getting up to leave. RB looked up from his phone, and got up to go after her.

"Wait!" he cried, "I was going to get you a drink!"

_~ The Real World ~_

_= Claire's POV =_

It was the day before my birthday, and my parents were rushing around preparing my sixteenth birthday party. I could sense a sadness around them, probably remembering what they lost last time they organised a 'sweet sixteenth'.

That's a weird thing about me. I can read people's emotions like a book. My dad jokes about it, and keeps calling me Deanna Troi. I didn't get it until Mrs Brown explained that it was from a sci-fi that stopped airing twenty years ago.

My best friend, Reuben, thinks it's awesome, but most people tease me about it. Not sure why, though.

Speaking of Reuben, he wasn't able to make it to the party. Something about family issues.

There was a knock at the door, and I opened it to find Reuben standing there holding a slip of paper.

"Happy Birthday!" he said.

"Thanks," I said, motioning for him to enter.

He looked around at the pink decorations that were everywhere.

"I love what you've done with the place," he joked.

"Whatever do you mean? It's always been like this," I replied.

"Here," he said, handing me the paper, "This is for you. Early birthday gift. Sorry I can't make it tomorrow."

"Oh, it's fine."

I looked down at the paper, and suppressed a squeal.

"You got me a Minecraft code!" I exclaimed.

"Uh-huh," he said, blushing slightly, hands in pockets.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Oh you know… A little snooping goes a long, long way…"

"You're the best friend in the world," I told him, and he blushed more.

"Don't use it until tomorrow," he said quickly.

"Don't worry, I won't," I said, and he nodded approvingly.

"I will, however have lots of fun without you at the party," I joked.

He pouted, and said, "You'd better not. I'm pretty handy with a knife."

"Oh really? I'm pretty handy with a knife myself," I said, winking.

He smiled and got even redder (if that was possible).

"Well," he said after a few seconds of awkward silence, "I'd best be going."

"Right, yeah. Of course," I said as we walked to the door.

Suddenly, his sister Meghan came barging inside, knocking me over.

"Reuben? Where are you?" she asked.

Reuben helped me up, giving his sister a death glare.

She turned and saw him.

"There you are! Figures you'd still be here," she said, rolling her eyes, and dragging him out the door.

"Good luck, kid!" she called out to me. "You're gonna need it!"

How encouraging. She was eighteen, and had gone through the whole sweet sixteen rigmarole two years earlier. Lucky her.

I sighed as I closed the door, and looked around at the decorations that Reuben had admired.

I was not looking forward to tomorrow.

_~ The Minecraft Realm ~_

_= Jensen's POV =_

I lay awake in bed in our hotel room. Penny was in the next room down, and Scott's in the room across the hall.

Somehow, this was far, far worse than staying with Sebastian.

I don't know why. Maybe it's because I know that Sebastian has no chance with Mariah, but Scott… Well, he's a different story.

I found myself wondering if Mariah had any feelings for him. If only I could read emotions.

Then it hit me.

A baseball, flying through the window at high speed, completely shattering it. I looked over at Mariah, who was still peacefully sleeping.

I picked up the ball and threw it back into the street, much to the delight of the boys who'd thrown it.

I got up from the bed I'd been sitting on, and walked across the room. I was now facing the wall that separated our room from Penny's. I started to realize that I understood how Mariah felt. I once again wished I could read emotions.

Claire.

I stumbled back onto the bed.

Claire, our younger sister. I hadn't thought about her since… Well, since we got shifted. I couldn't believe myself. How could I forget? She was such a sweet kid. I wondered how she was. It must have been difficult for her, adjusting to a new home, new life, new parents. Especially parents who were grieving over their other children.

It made me remember our own adoption, so long ago. Mariah and I were only five. We couldn't remember much of our parents, as we were only four when we were taken to the orphanage. We don't even know what happened to them, and apparently it was never officially recorded. They weren't legally dead, nor had they ever legally existed. They could've been killed in a car accident… murdered… killed I the line of duty… They might not even be dead. They could be missing. Heck, they could even have suffered the same fate as us.

Now there was an interesting thought.

I couldn't sleep. It could've been stress. It could've been the excitement of my new memory. It could've even been the distant dance music, early morning sun and gentle breeze drifting through the newly broken window.

Whatever it was, I knew I wouldn't be getting any shut-eye.

So I decided to leave a note for Mariah, and hit the streets.

_~ The Real World ~_

_= Claire's POV =_

I woke up that morning with a feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach.

_Just party stress_, I told myself as I got dressed.

A few hours later, my first guests were arriving and the nerves were gone.

It was pretty uneventful – chick flicks, food, presents, the works.

The best part of the day was after the party had ended and all but two of my guests had gone home. The remaining two were Curtis and Summer, the gamers of the bunch. Out of the people at the party, they're my closest friends.

We sat down, and I downloaded Minecraft, using the code Reuben gave me. It was crazy exciting, and I gave a little squeal of excitement as I created my very first world.

Then I got sucked in. The game's really addictive. We all sat there for hours, and I went through a lot of milestones. My first creeper, my first night, my first shelter, first diamond, first portal, all that stuff. It was so fun.

Then it was midnight, and my little Cinderella moment ended. Curtis and Summer had to go, and I had to get some sleep. Trust me, though, it was completely my own choice. My parents were happy to let me stay up, but I was absolutely exhausted.

Soon enough, I was drifting off to sleep, my mind full of very nice everythings and 'Achievement Get!'s.

Life was beautiful. Life was perfect. But then Life changed its mind.

~ The Minecraft Realm ~

= Still Claire's POV =

_No way._

_THERE IS __NO__ WAY!_

_Ermah-freakin'-gersh!_

_HOW!?_

_HOW AM I IN MINECRAFT!?_

_Dream. Just a dream…_

_There is NO WAY!_

_I just… It can't… But…_

_Okay, okay… If this is a dream, and I know… that makes this a lucid dream… Right?_

_So… I can fly. Or, I don't know, do something crazy that I wouldn't do in real life…_

I looked around, confused. Blocks. Cubes. Whatever. Everywhere. Good grief.

I looked down at myself. Well, at least I had a lower body. And two hands. And fingers.

I wiggled them just to be sure.

_Yep, I have fingers._

I was wearing my regular attire; A plain white t-shirt, leggings, denim shorts, and a light blue hoodie.

I felt my hair. It was in a ponytail, as usual.

I looked at my arms. Elbows! Knees! Ankles! FEET!

My feet were clad in my favourite blue and green sneakers.

_Well, it's not exactly like the game…_

I took another look around. This time I noticed a city, and a group of horses hitched to a post. In the middle of nowhere. Cool?

I approached the horses. They saw me, and neighed in distress.

"Hey, it's okay, I won't hurt you…" I told them gently, and it seemed to work. They calmed down a little. I noticed one of them had saddlebags, and I looked inside them.

I saw a bag of apples, and went to pick it up, when it flew into my hand.

I screamed and dropped it, and the horses looked at me in confusion. At least I hadn't spooked them.

I cautiously picked up the bag, and the same thing happened. This time, though, I was prepared, and didn't scream. Well, at least not as loudly.

I took out an apple from the bag, and held it up to one of the horses, a beautiful white one. Its mouth closed around the apple, and it whinnied a 'Thank you'. I repeated the process for the three other horses, and got a similar response from all of them except one, a Thoroughbred, who looked at me with what I swear was disdain.

I looked in the saddlebag and took out a handful of sugar, which I gave to the horse. It suddenly loved me.

I laughed, then looked back over to the city I'd seen earlier. It looked like a good place to stay while I came to terms with what was happening.

So, with nothing better to do than hope this was all a dream, I started walking towards the city.

_= Jensen's POV =_

I descended the hotel's spiral staircase, and walked into the street. From where I was standing, the only places that I could tell were open were a bar and a nightclub. I chose the bar.

I walked through the door, and looked towards the counter, which had only one free seat, next to… Lanie?

What was _she_ doing here?

I looked at the bar's other patrons, and was surprised to see that most of the m were younger than me, even though they should've been in school. _I guess people are less… strict here._

I saw one kid who looked ten, and was chatting up someone at least five years older than him, a girl in a light blue hoodie who seemed to be humoring him. She seemed oddly familiar…

Then it hit me.

And this time it was neither Lanie nor a small projectile.

It was an astounding realization.

Claire.

The girl in the hoodie.

It was Claire…

Suddenly, she stood up and walked out of the door. I watched her leave, the boy running after her.

_What was that all about?_

I was about to go after her when Lanie walked up to me.

_= Lanie's POV =_

"Well, I've gotta go," the girl in the hoodie told RB, getting up to leave.

RB, who'd been busy trying to figure out what was wrong with his phone, looked up in surprise.

"What?"

The girl walked away, and RB quickly grabbed a backpack that was lying on the floor next to his seat. He placed his phone in it, swung it over one shoulder, and ran after the girl.

"Wait!" he called. "I was going to get you a drink!"

The girl got just outside the door before she turned back and winked at the boy, then kept walking.

He stopped in his tracks, dazed. Suddenly, he seemed to remember what he was doing, and ran.

_He doesn't even know her name…_I thought to myself. It was pretty impressive.

Then I saw the man at the door. _Jensen!_

I got up and walked towards him, but then saw what he was looking at. He was staring at the girl in the hoodie.

"Bit young for you, isn't she?" I asked.

He looked towards me.

"Oh. Hello," he replied, looking back towards the girl.

I cleared my throat. "Took your time."

He turned to me again. "Sorry, were you _expecting_ me?"

I shrugged, then looked up at him with what I hoped came off as a mischievous grin.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and whipped around, ready to punch the offender.

Standing behind me was a middle-aged man who was completely stoned.

"Heeeeeyyyy, ba-baaaabyyy? Wanna… Ugh, w-waaanna go t-to the… the cluuuub?" he drawled, his words slurred so much I could only just make out what he was saying.

I was about to punch him when, out of nowhere, someone else did, knocking him to the ground. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully.

It turned back to Jensen, who was rubbing his right hand.

"That was more painful than I imagined it would be…" he said, then grinned at me.

"Come on, let's get outta here," he said, walking towards the door and motioning for me to follow.

I did, feeling jealous of Mariah. Jensen must be an amazing brother.

_= Mariah's POV =_

It was about noon when I finally woke up. There was a piece of paper on my face.

I picked it up, and sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes.

_Dear Mariah,_

_It's something like 7am right now, and I can't sleep, so I'm going to go explore Harenam. Don't do anything I wouldn't do! ;D_

_xoxo, Jensen_

'Don't do anything I wouldn't do.' I wasn't sure what that meant anymore. Jensen had changed so much since we'd left the 'real' world. I guess I had, too. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

I decided that hitting the streets was a good idea, so I got dressed, and walked down the stairs and out into the street.

The first place I saw that I was willing to enter was a library, so I headed for that.

The first thing I saw when I walked through the door was a row of computers on the back wall. The next thing I saw was a shelf full of comics… Very _adult_ comics…

I quickly walked past them, and towards the DVD section, the Sci-fi section in particular.

One cover caught my eye, so I took it out of its shelf. Star Trek: The Next Generation, the complete second season. I didn't know they _had_ Star Trek here. I was a little young to have watched it when it first aired, but I'd seen the re-runs, and both Jensen and I had loved it. Season 5 was his favourite, Season 2 was mine. Instead of the usual cover, this one was a Minecraft version. A blocky Picard in front of a blocky Deanna Troi, and- good heavens, Claire.

Not on the cover, just in my memories.

Claire.

The twelve year old my parents adopted four and a half years ago.

The one that could read emotions. In an observant way, not a telepathic way. The one Dad kept calling Deanna. The one we'd only known for 6 months. Our sister. It was all coming back.

I suddenly felt a little unsteady, and stumbled towards the row of computers, sitting down in front of one. I looked at the screen of the person to my left. She was on a site called Faceblock. Faceblock? More like face-palm.

Well, at least I know the internet exists in Minecraft. Good to know.

I stood up and walked out of the library, and back out onto the street.

Where do I go now?

I looked around and saw a bar, a few hotels, two nightclubs, one of which was closed, and a school. I headed for the nightclub that was open.

As soon as I walked in. I was hit with a wave of dubstep, and a terrible smell. It seemed like a mixture of puke, sweat, and terrible, terrible decisions. The strobe lights were extremely disorienting, making it so that I couldn't really walk in a straight line. I stood still, and glanced up. It seemed I wasn't the only disoriented one. A few paces in front of me stood a girl who looked about sixteen, who looked plain confused, but was still managing a smile. There was a boy in a green suit with brown hair trying to get her to dance. He almost looked like one of Santa's helpers.

Suddenly, the girl looked up at me, and gasped. She walked towards me. As she approached, she began to look more and more familiar.

"Mariah?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah, who are you?" I asked, still dizzy. The strobe light and loud music were seriously messing with me.

"Don't you recognize me?" she asked, her voice insanely familiar.

My vision cleared and the dizziness faded.

"Claire?" I asked.

The girl nodded, grinning.

"Where's… Is Jensen with you?" she asked.

"Well, he's not with me exactly, but he's somewhere in Harenam."

"Harenam? Is that the name of the city?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "It's Latin for sand."

She screwed up her nose.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"My whole class at school was forced to take conversational Latin," came the reply.

I laughed.

"How are they?" I asked, talking about our parents.

"Well," she began sadly, "They're… They're doing well, I guess. Or at least they were. They missed you, but I think… I think the part of them that still had hope died…"

I nodded, then took her hand.

"Come on. Let's get some fresh air," I told her, squeezing her hand slightly.

She smiled with relief, and waved to the boy she'd been with. Apparently, he hadn't even noticed her absence, but he ran after us now.

"How old is he, anyway?" I asked Claire as we walked outside.

"I don't know exactly, but he insists he's a teenager," she said, laughing, and I joined in.

_= Sebastian's POV =_

I walked through the gates of Harenam. You should've seen the looks I got. I guess people are just suspicious of strangers...

"Mommy, is he a half-blood?" asked one little boy.

His mother shushed him, telling him never to say that word, and dragged him away.

"Hey, punk. You're new, aren't you?" A disdainful voice behind me asked.

I turned around to see a man about my age glaring at me.

"Hello," I said, "I'm Sebastian."

"Lucas," he replied coldly.

"Nice to meet you. Know any good hotels?"

He spat on the ground and walked away.

Geez. I thought a party town would be a little more... friendly... Apparently not.

_~ The Real World ~_

_- Reuben's POV -_

It's been a week now. They're saying she was abducted, kidnapped, stolen, whatever you want to call it. But I know better. When you spend as much with her as I did, her ability tends to start to rub off on you. I'm not as good as she is, though. All I have is a gut feeling that she's okay.

Curtis and Summer were devastated, thinking she's gone forever. Trust them to jump to the conclusion that she's dead.

She was talking about her older siblings a lot, her parents other children, the ones that went missing four years ago. About how they disappeared the day they turned sixteen. I don't think this is a coincidence.

I've been keeping her parents company while they come to terms with their loss. They were saying something about a promise she'll never be able to keep. They must mean the promise that she'll find Jensen and Mariah.

I've missed her myself, but I guess it's easier when you know she's alright. Maybe she's even happy, wherever she is.

But maybe I'm wrong. Completely wrong. Maybe she's dead. Gone. Forever.

That's what the media's been saying. She got a front page article on one of those big newspapers. If she was here, she'd find that funny; that everyone's making such a fuss over some adopted kid in the suburbs who doesn't matter anyway. But then, if she was here, they wouldn't have written an article about her.

I never thought I could say this at a time like this… but it seems appropriate:

Life has a strange sense of humor.

_= Summer's POV =_

Oh. My. Gosh.

Shesdeadshesdeadshesdead.

I just know it.

I can't believe it, but I know. And I saw her the night she was kidnapped. I talked to her. She was so full of life… But now…

It's just… crazy.

We could've been best friends.

We would've been best friends.

Curtis had a nervous breakdown – that's what his mother told me. He wasn't at school.

Whoever took her deserves to die.

And whoever killed her deserves to be erased from existence. Even though that would cause a paradox, and would screw everything up, just like in Doctor Who.

OH MY GOSH, she's actually dead.

I can't cry. Everything's numb.

I almost feel like laughing, actually.

Life has a sick sense of humor.

_~ The Minecraft Realm ~_

_= Claire's POV =_

It's kind of funny. They're probably going on about how I'll never be able to keep my promise, never be able to find the twins.

But I have.

I laughed out loud while walking the streets with my sister. Somehow, she understood. She laughed too. Soon the both of us were in hysterics, leaving RB confused and frustrated about being left out of our unspoken joke.

Life has a wonderful sense of humor.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Well, this is the first chapter to be over a thousand words. I hope the story didn't move too fast. Did you like my use of repetition? Because I sure did. Also, Jensen gets his turn at being manly! The names Curtis, Summer and Reuben all came out of a random name generator, in case you were wondering.**

**Keep reviewing and favouriting! It shows your support, and makes me happy. Everybody wins. Well, except you. It's sort of a tie for you. But you don't lose anything, so go ahead.**

**I loved writing the last section. It just made me really happy. I do, though, feel like the story is starting to drag a little. Like a bee that's had water poured on it. You want to put it out of its misery, but are too scared to step on it in case it stings you. That was a weird analogy, wasn't it? I'm sorry.**

**Now a few quick shout-outs:**

**Any American who's reading this: That Cool-Aid bit? That was for you. There is no Cool-Aid where I am. Well, there probably is, but it's not terribly popular.**

**Any Australian who's reading this: You guys have read Flight more times than the Americans this month. For once. But overall, they've read it more. Only one way to change that – Spread the love!**

**Anyone from the Philippines, Norway, The United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovakia, Poland or Brazil who's reading this: You're the people who've been reading Flight in the last three months. I love you. You guys show some dedication, especially because this is in English. (Yes, I do realize that many of you speak English as a primary or secondary language)**

**All my followers, reviewers and OC submitters: Flight would not be where it is without you. I luvs y'all.**

**Au revoir mes amis,**

**~~ Kestrel Knight**

**Penny: Um, hello? I exist! did you FORGET about me!?  
**

**Me: Honestly? I did sorta forget about you when I wrote the first draft. And I can't be bothered to put you both in. I'll make it up to you next chapter.**

**Penny: *sigh* Fine…**

**Scott: I didn't get a part, either…**

**Me: As I said, next time.**

**Mariah: Ah, sister moments. Perfection itself…**

**Jensen: But… she's not you're **_**actual**_** sister, and you forgot about her for four years. Plus, you only knew her for 6 months.**

**Mariah: Like that matters…**

**Claire: Yeah, **_**brother**_**, don't be such a party pooper!**

**Jensen: Whatever…**

**RB: *fiddles with phone* It's still broken… -_-**

**Claire: Oh, I'm sure you'll live…**

**Me: Would you guys shut up already? I already signed off, you know. Now I'll have to do it again.**

**Everyone: BYE, DEAR READERS!**

**Me: Hey, I—**

**Everyone: xoxo. ~~ Kestrel Knight!**

**Me: Fine… *pout***


	13. Chapter 13: Amnesia

**DISCLAIMER:**

***shoving belongings in a bag***

**Oh, hello, Mojang's lawyers. Didn't see you there. What am I doing, you ask? Why, packing, of course! Just so, you know, if you happen to decide to sue me, I'll be **_**long**_** gone. Oh, I don't own Minecraft, nor anything affiliated with it, save for this fanfic. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the land of second chances! Where's that? Oh, it's not a place! *laughs* That was a reincarnation joke. *laughs at own joke* No? You're not laughing at my amazing but possibly poorly timed joke…? Okay…**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Hey there! Just in case you were wondering, yes, I do like you guys more than my WordPress readers! (ermahgersh, ter merner erksclermershern merks…)**

**Anyway, it's good to have you guys back! But now, a question from I love blaze the cat.**

**I love blaze the cat says - To shadeo: I am wondering if you get hit wold de otheo one fell it and i have adhd**

**Shadow: Uh… I don't know. I don't think so…**

**Jensen: Care to find out?**

**Shadow: Okay…?**

**Jensen: *punches Sebastian in the jaw***

**Sebastian: Ow! What was that for!?**

**Jensen: Could you feel that, Shadow?**

**Shadow: No, not really. A slight tingling sensation, perhaps, but I could just be imagining that.**

**Jensen: We'd better repeat the experiment, just to be sure, right?**

**Sebastian: Repeat!? NO!**

**Shadow: Right. Okay, go ahead, punch him again.**

**Sebastian: Ow! Why does- OW! Why does everyone hate me!? Ow! That really—Ow!**

**Shadow: I don't feel anything.**

**Jensen: Well, there's your answer right there, I love blaze the cat. Up high!**

**Shadow: Up high? Why are you holding up your hand? Are you going to hit me too?**

**Jensen: What? No, you **_**hit**_** it.**

**Shadow: Oh. Okay. *punches Jensen's hand with as much force as possible***

**Jensen: ARGH! OUCH! I think you broke it… *whimpers* SHADOW! You're meant to hit it GENTLY!**

**Sebastian: Ha, serves you right.**

**Shadow: You could've told me that.**

**Well, I think we'll leave them to their fighting. I had major writer's block for the longest time, which is why this chapter is ever so late. I dug up a page of writing prompts from a few months ago, and it helped me get an idea for this chapter.**

**Before we get this going, answering some reviews!**

**To RB: What's wrong with it? Oh, you'll see. Next chapter, I pinky swear. And you're welcome. I don't see you getting drunk either.**

**To ihearthorses6000: Aw, shucks. I try.**

**To Guest: Why does everyone always read the optionals?**

**To jaketron: You, sir, are the best fan a girl could ask for. Or, dare I say, even a guy.**

**To No Name Guy (RB): I still don't really know what a green suit is.**

**To my editor: You haven't officially reviewed Flight, but that's not going to stop me. Under the assumption that you'll read this, "Reply my email, dag-nammit!"**

**To everyone, all the fans, all the followers, all the reviewers, all the readers, even you, editor: I love you.**

**And guess what? No POV switching in this one. That would give away what's going on, which I don't want to do.**

**Also, many references in this chapter. Put them in the reviews, and I'll see if you can get them all!**

FLIGHT – Chapter 13 (Amnesia)

My eyes shot open. I was lying on the cold, hard ground… My head was pounding, my face hurt, and my ankle felt sprained. I sat up groggily, the room spinning before me.

_Where am I?_

I looked around at the room I was in. No, not a room, a cell. I was in prison. Which prison? What city? No way of knowing.

_Who am I?_

I wasn't sure, and there wasn't really any way to know. I didn't seem to have any means if identification on me.

I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"Hello?" I called weakly, my voice cracking slightly. The pounding in my head got worse as soon as the word left my mouth.

_I could really use an Aspirin… _(other pain-killers are available)

"Oh. You're awake," said the source of the footsteps, a guard.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"You're in prison. Couldn't you tell?" the guard asked, motioning to the bars of my cell.

"Yes, but where is this prison? What city?"

"Oh, right," said the guard. "You must've been pretty stoned, huh?" he said, then laughed at his own poor humour.

I cleared my throat.

"Right, yes, sorry. You're in Harenam," the guard told me.

_Harenam? Party destination, right?_

"What's my name?" I asked him.

"Your name?" The guard looked thoughtful. "Well, gee, I don't know. Do _you _know what your name is?"

I shook my head.

"Well, I'm Adrian. Nice to meet you," the guard told me, extending his hand towards me through the bars of my cell.

I shook his hand. "Pleasure's all mine…"

"You look tired."

I nodded and said, "I feel tired…"

"I'll get you some water," Adrian said, and jogged down the hallway.

I watched him go, taking note of his appearance, which struck me as somewhat familiar. He was slim, but looked strong, which made sense for a guard. He also had orange hair and green eyes. He was wearing leather armour, in various colours that didn't match in the slightest. Not much to loo at, but he seemed nice.

He went through a door at the end of the hallway, and I found myself looking down at my own somewhat torn and dirty clothes. Mostly leather, dyed black, an iron chestplate - covered in some sort of black substance, presumably to cut down on glare – and a dark blue hooded cloak to top it all off. I patted myself down a little, and felt my hair, which was short enough not to bother with. It did seem messy, though, so I did what I could to remedy that. I may have been in prison, but that didn't mean I couldn't at least try to make myself presentable.

Adrian emerged from the room at the end of the hall, holding two glasses bottles of water and an apple. He reached my cell and sat down.

"Thank you," I said, as he handed me a bottle and the apple. I downed the water in one gulp, and started eating the apple.

"You're welcome," he said, watching me with mild amusement.

"What?" I asked once I'd finished my apple.

"Oh, nothing. You must've been hungry."

"I was. How long have I been here?"

"Almost a week. You've been asleep most of that time, but they tell me you woke up a few times, unable to remember anything."

"Oh. Do you think that'll happen again?" I asked him.

"Maybe. We'll have to wait and see, I guess."

Needless to say, I thought we were getting on like a house on fire. I mean, we'd only said a few sentences to each other, but that doesn't matter. Right?

**-Later-**

"Guess what I have!" cried Adrian, as he walked down the hall to my cell.

"You interrupted my nap?" I replied, yawning.

"Nope, better. I have a sheet with some of your personal details on it!"

My eyes widened, as I watched him read it.

"Hey, let me see!" I cried, standing up.

Suddenly, my ankle collapsed beneath me, shooting daggers of pain through my nervous system.

Adrian looked up from the sheet, having heard a scream, then a thud.

"Whoa! Are you okay? What happened?"

I was sitting on the floor, gingerly holding my ankle.

"I'm fine, but I think I may have sprained my ankle…" I replied.

"Do you want me to get some help?"

I nodded, holding back tears.

Adrian jogged away, and through a door labelled 'MED'. He came back with a nurse in tow.

"Can you describe what happened?" she asked me.

"Well, I was just standing up, when my ankle collapsed," I tell her.

She nodded, then asked, "Did it hurt a lot, or just a little?"

"A lot," I replied.

"She screamed," added Adrian.

"Okay, well, I'm going to have to go in there," the nurse told Adrian.

He nodded, and walked towards a computer to the left of the door. He typed something in, then opened the cell's door.

I don't know why, but I suddenly thought, _Computercraft mod!_

The nurse walked into my cell, then crouched next to me and took some bandages out of a bag.

She wrapped the bandages around my ankle, then took out what seemed to be similar to a bandage, but thicker and firmer, and wrapped that around my ankle as well. To finish it off, she pinned the bandages in place, then stood up and walked out.

"Let me know if there are any more problems," she said to Adrian, before walking back through the 'MED' door.

"What if you're not here if and when there are any more problems?" I asked Adrian.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" he responded, looking puzzled.

"Your shift might be over," I pointed out.

"Shift? Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. I'm the only one assigned to you. I'm going to be here the whole time," he told me.

"Why didn't they assign anyone else?"

"Well, to be brutally honest, nobody else wanted to do it."

"Oh," I said dejectedly.

"Well, I'll let you get back to your nap," he said, walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?" I call after him.

"To get a chair."

**-Later-**

I lay on the floor staring up at the ceiling.

"Will you at least tell me my name?" I asked Adrian, my very own, personal, prison guard.

"Nope. Sorry. Against orders."

I sighed.

"Can I try to guess?" I asked.

"If you want."

"Is my name… Fred?"

"You'd think so, but no. Your name should be Fred. You look like a Fred," Adrian replied. I could practically see him grinning.

"Thanks. Is my name… Samantha?"

"No."

"Madeline?"

"No."

I sat up. "Can I have a hint?"

Adrian stroked an imaginary beard before answering, "No."

"Okay, then, I give up. How old am I?"

"Can't tell you. You're between the ages of 3 and 87, I'll give you that much."

"Am I younger than 50?"

"Can't tell you. Only exact numbers."

"Fine. Just out of curiosity, do you know what I'm in prison for?"

"Yes, I do," Adrian replied.

"Is it on the sheet?"

"Nope."

"Does that mean you can tell me?"

"Yep."

"So, Adrian, what am I in here for?"

"You got in a fight."

I paused, staring at him in disbelief.

"Seriously?" I asked, "That's it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so."

"How long have I been here?"

"Almost a week. You asked me that earlier."

I nodded. Right. I had.

"When am I getting out?"

He shrugged. "I don't think they'll let you out until you remember everything. Don't want you getting false memories, and going off with some stranger, do we?"

"I don't know," I joked, "Do we?"

He rolled his eyes, then yawned.

"How long have you been awake?" I ask cautiously.

"I don't know. Almost two days, now, I guess," came the reply.

I studied his face. He didn't look like he was lying. I mean, he looked exhausted, but he also looked truthful.

"You should sleep, then," I told him.

"No. What if something happens to you?" he reasoned, shaking his head.

"So you're just going to stay awake, because you have to?" I asked, sceptically.

"No," he said, "I'm going to stay awake to keep you safe, because I want to."

He was smiling.

And then I realized something. I was smiling, too.

**-The Next Day-**

My eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning, sunshine," said a voice.

I sat up, looking at Adrian. It took a moment to remember where I was.

"Please tell me my name isn't Sunshine," I say.

"Do you remember everything from yesterday?" asked Adrian.

"I think so. I think I'm starting to remember some things about myself, too."

I'd had a nightmare. Someone called Jensen, and someone else… A girl, the same age as Jensen. They'd disappeared from somewhere. Then I was lying on the ground, watching them, unable to move, when hands grabbed me and dragged me away. There was another girl, a different one, she had tried to pull me away from the hands, but she couldn't. Everything became cold and black, and then I woke up. It's all kind of fuzzy.

"What do you remember?" asked Adrian.

"Someone called Jensen…" I say hesitantly.

Adrian smiles. "He's your older brother," he tells me. "Anything else?"

I think back to the nightmare. Two more people, half-bloods, whatever those were.

"Something about half-bloods, too…"

Adrian pales. "Stay there," he says, then catches himself. "You know what I mean. Just… Don't worry. I'll be right back."

I notice the window of my cell for the first time. It's high up on the wall, and lines up with the ground outside. There's no glass, just bars. I see people walking past, seeming to be in a hurry. Then I see something else. A note.

I take it down and read it.

_Claire,_

_I tried to bail you out, but they wouldn't let me. They said you had amnesia. Look, I don't want you to stay in there longer than you have to, so I'm put some details about yourself on the other side of this note. Tell the guards you remember everything, but don't tell them how._

_- Jensen_

I turned the note over. My name was Claire Brown, and I had just turned sixteen. I had two older siblings: twins named Jensen and Mariah. I'd been with them and three other people (Shadow, Lanie and Sebastian) when I was knocked unconscious, and taken away by the city's guards.

I stuffed the note in my pocket when I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

There were three guards coming towards my cell, and none of them were Adrian.

"What's going on?" I asked, receiving no reply.

"Where's Adrian?" Maybe he could help me.

They unlocked the door to my cell, and came inside, grabbing my arms, and dragging me out.

"No! Adrian!" I cried, struggling as hard as I could with a sprained ankle.

"Help me! Someone help me!"

I looked around, seeing the other prisoners in their cells, watching me. They looked amused.

I swore at them.

"I'm sorry," one woman mouthed, then turned away.

The guards took me inside a small, cramped room, and sat me down on a chair. When I tried to get up and run away, they pushed me down and took out a sword, which they held to my throat.

I heard more footsteps, and turned my head slightly to see Adrian walking in.

"Adrian! What's going on?" I asked frantically, relieved that he was here, that he could work this out.

He shook his head.

"You've been associating with half-bloods," he told me, his voice full of malice.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, desperately.

"That's considered treason. Who knows? You could be plotting the downfall of our king."

"King? What king?" I asked, confused.

Adrian just laughed, dryly and cruelly.

"Let me just say it now, and get it over with. You're never getting out," he said, sounding almost pleased.

"No," I whispered.

"You'll be sent back to your cell. If you tell us everything you know about the half-bloods, anything they're plotting, we'll allow you to live out the rest of your life. Maybe even let you out one day. If you choose to stay silent, you'll starve to death. Either way, we'll provide you with a sword. Perhaps you'd be better off one of them. A half-blood," he says, spitefully.

"What did they do? Why do you all hate them so much?" I asked.

Adrian hit me, and I sat there in shock.

"Take her away," he said dismissively.

The guards dragged me away, joking about something. I didn't struggle, mostly because I was too shocked. I wasn't sure why, but I felt like I'd never been this wrong about anyone before. Never.

The guards threw me back into my cell, laughing, and then dropped the sword in through the bars.

I gazed at it for a few seconds before picking it up.

"Do you really want to kill yourself?" asked a timid voice.

I looked up to see the woman who had apologised earlier.

"No," I said, smiling bitterly. "But I almost do."

"Well, you're the lucky one. You have a way of ending it," she said, sadly.

I looked out the window. How was it night already? I looked at the starlight reflecting off of the sword's blade.

"Maybe you're right… Maybe I should just…" I said quietly, holding the sword's point up to my chest.

Suddenly I realised what I was doing. I threw the sword out the window, and onto the street. I knew all too well that if I kept it, I'd end up using it someday. I put my hand around one of the bars and looked at the people walking past, ignoring the sword now lying on the ground. Just three bars separating me form everyone else. I wished I was on the outside.

"Claire?" I heard a voice call. Could it be…?

"Jensen? Is that you?" I asked, my voice coming out small and scared.

"Claire!" a few sets of footsteps came running towards me, and stopped outside the window. Jensen lowered his face to the window.

"They won't let me out!" I told him.

"I know, I tried to get you out again. They told me you had a life sentence, for committing treason. Something about fraternising with half-bloods," he said comfortingly.

"What are you going to do?" asked another voice, "It's not like they'll take a bribe or anything."

"Shut up, Sebastian," Jensen said, looking over his shoulder.

I heard Sebastian gasp with shock.

"He has a point, you know. What _are_ we going to do?" asked another voice.

"Shut up, Mariah," said a younger female voice. "We're going to break her out, of course."

Jensen had a gleam in his eye.

"Jensen…" said Mariah cautiously, "Please tell me you're not going to listen to Lanie. Seriously. She's a _griefer_, for goodness' sake! I don't know why you even trust her!"

"And the guards don't know why you trust me. But you do," said another male voice.

"That's different, Shadow. You're a half-blood. That's a broad stereotype that's completely wrong. You haven't done anything wrong yourself."

"What do you mean, he hasn't done anything wrong? He a freakin' spy! He's had charges of fraud, theft, kidnapping, griefing, treason—"

"Shut up, Lanie," Mariah interrupted.

"But she's right," Shadow pointed out.

"Exactly. He also has plenty of experience with escaping from prison. With two experts, we can't go wrong," Lanie said, smugly.

"Well, that settles it!" Jensen said, standing up.

"Wait!" I cried. "They're different here! If they knew you were just thinking about organising a jailbreak, they'd come out here and throw you in a cell. And there's no way you're getting out after that."

"Pfft!" Lanie scoffed. "I'm a master at stealing keys from unsuspecting guards. And Shadow here is pretty good at lock-picking."

"But they don't use normal locks! They have computer-operated locks!"

I heard Lanie curse.

"So…" Jensen said, "You're saying we'd have to hack into their system?"

"I guess," I reply. "Unless you can get the password."

I heard another set of footsteps running.

"There you guys are! I thought I'd lost you!" said a voice. It sounded like it came from a teenage boy.

"Oh. It's you," Lanie said. "Claire, I think this one's yours."

"Claire? Where is she?" the boy asked.

I saw Lanie point down at me.

"Claire!" he cried, and threw himself on the ground, so that his face was looking through the bars.

"RB!" I cried, recognising him.

"Wait a second!" Jensen said, loudly and firmly.

"What?" I asked.

"You remember _him_, someone you'd only met _that same day_, but you didn't remember _me!?_"

"Ha. In your face, old man!" RB said, then began to tell me all about what had happened.

"I don't believe this," Jensen muttered.

"Shut up, Jensen," Sebastian said, smugly.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Well, what do you think? I know the chapters are usually a little longer (and don't take this long to go up), but at least you got a chapter. Honestly, I almost put Flight on hiatus. But then I realised how mad my editor would be if I didn't put up a chapter for the whole holidays.**

**Well, for once, I don't really have anything left to say, except: I'm sorry if you believe in reincarnation (See disclaimer). Please don't sue me.**

**Also, I haven't counted the references, but there are a fair few. Remember, PM me, or put them in the reviews. I'll give credit where credit is due in the next chapter. And keep sending in those questions!**

**Love you all,**

**~~ Kestrel Knight**


	14. Chapter 14: Meanwhile

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Well. I can't believe I'm still saying this, but I really, truly, don't own the freakin' game. Scout's honour. Pinkie swear. Cross my heart and hope to be black-listed from every server in existence. Seriously, if it turns out I've been lying this whole time, and **_**do **_**own the game, feel free to track me down and murder me brutally for being a jerk.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I'm female, okay, jaketron? **_**Female. **_**Not chick. **_**Female.**_

**Also, to my editor: No, Allison is not named after our teacher. The name came from a generator. As usual.**

**That is all.**

FLIGHT – Chapter 14 (Meanwhile…)

~ The Real World ~

"Are they still under?" asked Marcus.

Allison nodded. "Still dreaming, too."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Allison? They're not dreaming. They're not even asleep," Marcus told her, rolling his eyes.

"I know, they're just under the influence of the drug. I almost envy them," she said quietly, gazing at the youngest one, a girl.

"Why? It's not like it's a privilege. In fact, it's pretty much torture," said one of the prisoners, who'd been off the drugs for a few weeks.

Marcus shot him a glare, and the prisoner held his eye without fear.

"Because it _is_ a privilege. How much would someone pay to do this?" Marcus challenged the prisoner.

"Hundreds of thousands!" declared Allison, gleefully.

"No, Allison. Millions," Marcus said, smugly. They exchanged a grin.

"Then how come we're the 'lucky ones'?" the prisoner asked, interrupting their reverie.

"Testing, of course. We need to make sure the drug is safe for long-term use."

"Right. So we get a highly-sought-after 'privilege' for free, at the risk of it killing us?" the prisoner muttered.

"Marcus?" Allison said, nudging Marcus. "I think one of them is waking up." She pointed to the man on the far left. The test subjects were lined up on beds, masks covering their mouths and noses, giving them a constant supply of the drug.

"What? That's impossible!" he cried, rushing over to the man.

As her partner checked the test subject's vitals, Allison looked at the prisoner who was awake. His head quickly turned to glare at her, and she looked away. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about him seemed familiar. And yet, she couldn't bear him looking at her. It made her feel vulnerable, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Well, seeing as he was never asleep, he can't wake up, but the drug does seem to be taking a lesser effect," Marcus announced.

The prisoner gave a short, sharp laugh.

"This is why we need to test the drug," Marcus told him, ignoring the laugh.

"Marcus?" Allison said.

Having not heard her, Marcus continued. "An ongoing experience would be worth millions, but just a few years? Hardly."

"You've had him under for _a few years_!?" the prisoner cried, outraged.

"Not constantly. And don't worry, we keep him hydrated and fed. He's not going to die from anything but the drug," Marcus said, frustrated at his prisoner's ignorance.

"Marcus," Allison said again, this time with more force.

"Well, I guess that's okay, then," the prisoner said sarcastically.

"I think you're forgetting who's in charge here!" Marcus said, close to flying into a rage.

"Marcus!" Allison yelled.

"What!?" he replied.

"The others are starting to wake up, too!"

Marcus' face paled slightly.

"But… some have only been under a few weeks," he said, sounding like a scared child.

"Exactly," she said.

The prisoner grinned at his two captors. He'd been waiting for this moment. He quietly stood up form the bed he'd been sitting on, and walked behind Marcus.

"Don't move, and don't make a sound," he told the heartless villain of his story.

Marcus whimpered, and Allison turned to see what was wrong. With a gasp, she raised both hands.

The prisoner was holding a knife to Marcus' neck – the same knife he'd used to cut the cords connecting the subjects' masks to the tanks of the drug.

"You… You cut the cords," Allison said slowly, and the prisoner nodded, smiling coldly.

"You _idiot!_" she screamed, running for the door, which was locked. Marcus had told her once that he had the only key. He didn't take chances by trusting anyone other than himself.

"I think you're forgetting who's in charge here," the prisoner said, pointing to his knife as he relished his new position of power. He'd been planning this moment since he was first captured.

"You. Are. A. MORON!" Allison screamed at him, shaking the door in a vain attempt to open it.

"Marcus, the key!" she cried.

"Trying to escape, huh?" the prisoner said, chuckling.

"You would, too, if you realized how STUPID you are!" she said, sobbing now.

"We're going to die. I can't believe it. We're going to be killed by his ignorance," Marcus said, then laughed dryly.

"I'm not going to fall for that, you know," the man said, becoming a little nervous.

Allison was now sitting on the prisoner's now vacant bed, sobbing, while Marcus laughed. The prisoner now laughed, too – nervously - because he was starting to believe their act.

"Cut it out. Seriously, I'm not going to fall for it," he said. It didn't sound as confident as he'd hoped it would.

"You really don't get it, do you? You cut the cords, but the drug is still pumping. Into this whole room. Which, I might mention, is airtight," Marcus said. "It's only a matter of time before we all fall unconscious, and die of thirst!" He sounded oddly cheerful, given their situation.

Allison continued sobbing. "I hate you so much…" she muttered fiercely. "You have no idea how much I hate you right now."

The prisoner moved the knife away from Marcus' neck in shock, releasing him. Marcus stepped away, rubbing the small cut on his neck.

"Can't you just unlock that door?" the prisoner said quietly, motioning to the door Allison had tried to open.

Marcus laughed. "Oh, no. I don't have the key. You really are a moron. That's a false door, just in case you tried to escape. I destroyed the key long ago. The only exit is behind the painting near the beds. Unfortunately, that painting is right above the place where the cords that carry the drugs come through the wall from the tanks. That's also where you _cut_ the cords. The drug is in a much higher concentration there. If I even got near it, I would fall unconscious."

"Well, don't you have gas masks or something?" the prisoner asked, now desperate.

"Of course not. As intelligent as we are, we never expected such a moronic prisoner as you. So we didn't bother using our limited resources on gas masks."

Marcus noticed that Allison has stopped sobbing. He looked over to her to find her unconscious. She was the closest to the cut cords, but it still showed that the two men didn't have much longer.

"I would say it was nice knowing you, but it really wasn't. Goodbye, though," Marcus said, holding his hand out to the prisoner, who shook it.

"I guess I'll see you in there," the prisoner said, holding back self-pitying tears.

"Yes. I suppose so," Marcus said, before collapsing on the floor.

The prisoner let out a single sob before he, too, collapsed.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Well, this should give you some insight into what's going on in this crazy world. Despite the fact that this is a pretty short chapter, I'm still proud of myself for typing the whole thing in one sitting. o3o Also one of the only chapters I've been brave enough to edit before posting. It probably helps that it's shorter.**

**Much love,**

**~~ Kestrel Knight.**


	15. Chapter 15: Ezekiel

**DISCLAIMER:**

**.. / -.. - -. .-. - / - .- -. / - .. -. . -.-. .-. .- ..-. - .-.-.- / -. - .-. / -.. - / .. / ... .-. . .- -.- / - - .-. ... . / -.-. - -.. . -..- / ..-. - .-. / - ... .- - / - .- - - . .-. -..- / -... ..- - / - ... . / .. -. - . .-. -. . - / .. ... / .- / .- - -. -.. . .-. ..-. ..- .-.. / .-. .-.. .- -.-. . .-.-.- / - ...- -**

**(As you may or may not know, this is an edit. That message there was apparently almost gibberish before I fixed it. Sorry to everyone who attempted to translate it. It actually makes sense now.)**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I'm kind of starting to type this right after finishing the previous chapter. So, assuming I don't finish this in one sitting, I'll give real notes at the end of the chapter. By the way, by editor is convinced that I've indirectly accused him of harassment. Something about my notes for Chapter 12. I'm adamant that I have done no such thing. I mean, seriously, as soon as he brought it up, I whipped out my clipboard, which has a dot-point draft for that chapter in it. After reading it, I insisted that I had made no accusations. Now, I've read through the actual chapter, and I'm **_**still**_** adamant. Okay, so maybe I said he'd "get mad!" (Portal reference) at the end of Chapter 13, but that is another matter entirely. Entirely.**

**Come on, people, support me. *please?***

FLIGHT – Chapter 15 (Ezekiel)

~ The Minecraft Realm ~

Claire was still in jail. Normally, this wouldn't be so bad. Jail is jail. Unfortunately, in this case, jail is not jail. In this case, jail is a torture chamber with delusions of grandeur.

She'd trusted Adrian. But she'd been wrong, for the first time she could remember.

She'd thought that maybe there was even something else. Something more. But, of course, since he'd been tasked with gaining her trust – which was far too easy – pretending to have chemistry was probably just part of the job.

Claire could hear footsteps coming down the hall. It had only been two days since the others had started planning their great escape, and she'd already learned to dread the footsteps. The footsteps meant a person, and a person meant Adrian. And Adrian meant the biggest mistake she'd ever made.

"Good morning, sunshine," Adrian said, his voice think with sarcasm as he stood outside her cell.

Claire was tired. And not just the regular "Whew, it's been quite a day" tired, either, but an "I haven't slept for three days because torture is quite unsurprisingly traumatic" tired. Jensen and the gang had visited, multiple times, to tell her what they'd planned, but all too soon, the footsteps came again. They couldn't risk getting caught.

"I'm not saying anything, Adrian," Claire told him.

"We'll see," he replied, a glint in his eye. He motioned to some guards, then unlocked her cell. A guard stepped inside, and threw her over his shoulder. She didn't struggle. She knew it was useless.

She was placed inside the same room she'd been put into every time they tried to make her talk, but this time, there was something different. There was usually just one chair in the cold, bare room, but this time there was two.

Claire began to get nervous.

"Take a seat, Claire," Adrian told her, motioning to the chair on the left. She nodded slightly, and obliged. She knew from experience what they would do if she refused.

As she sat in the simple wooden chair, Claire looked down at the hands in her lap – her hands. She'd gotten used to being made of blocks. It felt familiar now, comfortable. She realized suddenly that she didn't want to go home. What had they done to her?

"Bring her in!" Adrian commanded one of the guards outside.

The guard came inside with a woman. She had blonde hair in a boyish cut, and hazel eyes. She was wearing a sleeveless green t-shirt, long jeans, and sneakers; and she didn't look happy.

The guard pushed the stranger into the empty chair and walked back outside.

"Well, Claire, I'd like you to meet your new friend. Allison, this is Claire. Claire, this is Allison," Adrian said, suddenly polite and friendly. Claire new it was just a façade.

"What do you want with me!?" Allison asked angrily. Claire found herself reminded of her first time in that room. She'd fought, and hard. But a few days without sleep had taken that from her.

"Oh, nothing much. Nothing much at all, really. We just want you to take a drug for us," Adrian said, walking in circles around the two chairs.

The woman suddenly paled at the word 'drug'. She looked down at her feet.

"What sort of drug?" Allison asked him quietly.

"The kind that hurts. It won't give you any permanent damage, but it _will_ be agony. Of course, your new friend Claire could just tell us all about her little half-blood buddies, and we'll give you the antidote. Then all the pain will end, like that!" Adrian said, then snapped his fingers.

Allison looked at Claire desperately. Claire was looking at her own feet, though, too afraid to look at her 'friend'. She didn't want to give Shadow away, but she didn't want to hurt this innocent woman. If she looked at her, she knew she'd feel too guilty to do anything but rat out her real friends.

"Are you ready, Allison?" Adrian asked in a sing-song voice.

Allison paused, then nodded, glaring at Adrian.

"She's ready!" he cried, and a nurse came in with a needle. Claire recognised her as the nurse who'd treated her ankle.

"Okay, then, Allison, this might pinch a bit," the nurse said. Adrian laughed at her joke, then watched in anticipation as the needle was inserted roughly into Allison's arm. Claire looked away so as not to gag as the drug was injected into Allison's bloodstream.

"Do you feel anything yet, Allison? A slight tingling sensation, perhaps?" Adrian asked, but Allison just glared at him, refusing to answer.

Adrian seemed to find this immensely amusing, because he cracked up laughing. His green eyes shone when he laughed, and he had a dimple on his right cheek. Claire wasn't sure why, but she found it almost unbearably adorable. It was a shame he was so… evil.

Allison began to tremble, and Claire closed her eyes. Soon the woman she didn't know was screaming in pain, and begging her to help.

"Fine," Claire said. "Fine, I'll tell you what I know, just stop."

Adrian nodded to the nurse, who hadn't left the room. She took out another needle, and injected the antidote into Allison's arm. Allison sat with her face in her hands, breathing heavily between chocked sobs. Claire wanted to comfort her, but didn't.

Adrian looked at Claire with mock fascination. "So, Claire," he began. "Tell us about your friends."

~ Later~

"You have to get me out of here!" Claire cried when Jensen and the gang came to visit her.

"Yeah, we know. But we have to plan this. We've only got one shot at this," Lanie told her with a sigh.

"You don't understand! They've figured out that torturing me doesn't help – they're torturing someone else!" Claire said desperately.

Jensen looked at her with shock. "How… What did… I… Did it work?" he finally asked.

Claire nodded sadly.

"What did you tell them?" asked Sebastian, the fear he felt evident in his voice.

"Nothing – I lied."

"Thank goodness," said Shadow. "I'm not going back to prison – There's no way you'll be able to break both of us out."

"Whatever, Shadow," muttered Lanie.

"I thought we were done planning," Penny volunteered.

"We still have to get some supplies," Mariah said. "And for that, we need money. We'd be breaking you out right now, if Lanie and Jensen hadn't _lost all the cash_."

"It was his fault! He stole it from me!" Lanie said, pointing an accusatory finger at Jensen.

"What!? I gave it all back to you! _You_ lost it!" Jensen said defensively.

"Oh, _really!?_ Face it, Jensen, this is all your fault," Lanie said, her face going red.

"Well, if you'd just _backed down_ for a moment, we could've _reasoned _with Scott, and Claire wouldn't even be in prison right now! But _no_, you just _had _ to be the hero!" Jensen shot back.

"How could we back _possibly_ reasoned with him! He's a prejudiced, bigoted _imbecile_! Just like _everyone else_ in this crazy city. They've all just _lost their marbles_! But Mr. Charisma here thinks he can make them change their ways, doesn't he?" Lanie said, yelling now. Passers-by were now staring at them.

"Lanie, you're drawing attention. Do you _want _to get caught?" Jensen hissed.

"Maybe I do! Then I could actually _protect _Claire! Unlike you, the perfect brother, who has to think everything down to the _tiniest_ detail!"

"Oh, because everything would be _so_ much better if we just barged in there, guns blazing!"

"Guys!" shouted RB. "Stop fighting! This isn't helping!"

Jensen sighed, his expression changing from one of anger to one of remorse.

"I'm sorry, Lanie, I just… I don't want to mess this up. I shouldn't have said any of that. I was wrong. I want to help Claire, too, but… I just think that it's too risky to break her out without the proper plans and equipment," he said gently.

Lanie turned her back to him. "You know what, Jensen?" she said quietly. "You're not worth it."

She stormed towards the city gates, arms crossed. The rest of the gang stood stock-still and silent.

"I should go after her," Jensen said.

"No," replied Penny, putting her hand on his shoulder before he could run off. "Give her some space. If she wants to help, she'll come back."

"But… what if she doesn't come back?" Jensen asked.

"Then we'll make do without her."

Lanie stormed off towards the city gates, angry, tired and confused. She wanted to help them, but she didn't. It was like there was a battle going on inside her, but she didn't know why. For a split second, she wished her mother was there.

She shook the thought out of my head. _She didn't help me before, so why would she now?_ She'd always hated her. But sometimes, like now, she missed her.

"Hey, pretty lady. Wanna make a quick buck?" asked a young man as she passed him.

"No, thank you. I'm doing just fine," she said, walking away.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" the same man asked.

"Quite sure. Could you please leave me alone, now?" She didn't have any weapons on her, and it made her feel vulnerable.

"Really? I saw you go off with my buddy. Is there something wrong with me?"

Lanie paused, choosing her words carefully. "Nothing sir, but I think you must have me confused with someone else."

"Ha!" the man blurted, his foul breath drifting past her face. She winced at the stench.

"I never forget a face. I'll pay you double," he continued, slowly pulling her towards a nearby apartment building.

"No!" Lanie cried, unable to simply be polite any longer. She tried to run away, but the sand beneath her feet didn't provide much traction. The man's iron grip on her shoulder didn't help.

In a last-ditch effort to get him away, she screamed at the top of her lungs, but no one came to her rescue. Not even Jensen.

She kicked the man as hard as she could, but it was like he was made of iron. One of those golems, or whatever. She looked into the house he was dragging her into. She saw an enchantment table, a cauldron, and a wall lined with bookshelves. Was he… a magician?

"What do you want with me?" she asked, now confused.

He dragged her through the door, then slammed it.

"Master!" the man cried, to Lanie's surprise. The expression on his face had changed to that of someone with the intense desire to please. Like a teacher's pet, or something.

A middle-aged man came out of another room, a welding mask on his head, only flipped up so that his face was exposed. His brown hair was greying at the temples, and he had lines next to his eyes, giving away his age.

"Welcome back, Hermes. I see you've gotten Lanie for me!"

Lanie stared at the man in complete confusion. He noticed her expression.

"Don't you recognise me?" he asked.

Lanie shook her head.

"I guess you wouldn't have seen me in a while. Or, actually, maybe you've never seen me. I've seen you, though. Plenty of times. I actually wanted to talk to Jensen, but I guess you can tell him where I am. Although, I'll probably be leaving soon. I have places to be, things to fix. Am I rambling? That seems to have become an increasingly bad habit of mine," the man said, without taking a breath.

Lanie just stared at him.

"Sorry," he said, "Where are my manners? My name's Ezekiel Groves, and I'm Georgia's father."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Ah, the mechanic girl's dad. I think he and Jensen are going to have some… interesting moments together. Perhaps I'll even be able to incorporate the title of this fan fiction into the whole shebang.**

**And, just for my editor: Pachyderm Footwear. Just keep in mind that I don't mean it.**

**Thank you so much for sticking with this so long! I feel like Flight is drawing to a close. Maybe even as soon as Chapter 20, this thing will end. I'll be doing a sort-of sequel, though. It will have even more Minecraft, and probably won't be much about Flight. I doubt you'll even have to read this to make sense of the sequel. It's going to be an adaption of the first fan fiction I ever wrote, over a year ago. It's good, though (IMO).**

**Thanks once again, my dear readers.**

**~~ Kestrel Knight**


	16. Chapter 16: Jailbreaks & Heartaches

**DISCLAIMER:**

**Thanks to my impossibly grand lawyering skills, I now own Minecraft. Yay, me! I'll be having a big party in which I burn a few million dollars' worth of hundred-dollar notes. You're all welcome to come. There'll be lightly sparkling orange Kool-Aid for everyone, on the house.**

**What? Oh, right, you can't hear the tone in my voice.**

**I was being sarcastic.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Yep, this thing is most definitely winding up. And, guess what? My editor has been sick, so I'm going to let him actually do his job for once. Which is editing! Yes, I'm going to send him this chapter via email before anyone else sees it! If you've found abundant typos, grammatically incorrect sentences and plot holes so far, that would be why. I really should've started doing this earlier, but whatever. Better late than never, right? Like this chapter… Really, **_**really**_** late…**

**Also, **_**WARNING**_**!**

**THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VAGUELY GRAPHIC (AND RATHER SENSELESS & RUTHLESS) VIOLENCE! Just a forewarning. I tend not to have complete control over what my characters, and Adrian is kind of a monster. Just in case you hadn't picked up on that. Okay, go ahead now.**

FLIGHT – Chapter 16 (Jailbreaks & Heartaches)

~ The Real World ~

"Do you think they're okay?"

"I don't know."

"What if they're dead?"

"Then it's not our faults."

"Why would they take them?"

"Because they're monsters."

~ The Minecraft Realm ~

"Hermes, you can turn off that disguise, now," Ezekiel told his modified iron golem.

"But then I won't be able to speak. And I was so dearly hoping to get to know our new friend…" the robot said, a carefully programmed sigh woven into his incredibly realistic voice.

"Hermes, I hope you haven't managed to program sarcasm into your response systems, again. You remember what happened last time," the man scolded.

"I would never!" Hermes said, sounding indignant.

"Turn it off, Hermes. It'll run your batteries down; you know that," the scientist said firmly.

"Alright, sir…"

The robot froze in place, and Lanie watched with great discomfort as the man morphed and grew into the iron golems she'd so commonly seen guarding ancient treasures. She'd also seen them guarding the monks' villages, but she wasn't sure how they'd gotten hold of such technology.

"Thank you, Hermes," the man said, smiling slightly.

The golem waved his arm in an effort to communicate. Lanie wasn't sure what he was trying to say, but Ezekiel seemed to know. He had programmed the robot, after all.

"You're welcome, sport," he said, laughing.

Lanie cleared her throat and said, "Look, as much as I've appreciated this charming display of robotics, I _do_ actually have things to do."

"Oh! I was hoping we could all sit down for some tea," Ezekiel said. He gave a pointed look at Hermes. "Not you," he said. The robot sagged with disappointment.

"Sorry, no can do. I can go tell Jensen you're here, though," Lanie suggested, edging slowly towards the door.

"Ah, yes. Right. Jensen. He _is _the scientist of the lot, correct? The one that wanted to fly?" he asked, making himself some tea.

Lanie looked around uncomfortably, unsure what he was talking about, but deciding it was best to humour him. "Sure," she told him, continuing towards the door.

"Alright, then. Perhaps we'll meet again. You can drop in whenever you like," Ezekiel said, taking a sip of the tea. He glanced at his iron golem, and shook his head. "I'm not feeling up to completely replacing your wiring again," he told the robot.

"Well, have a nice night, then!" Lanie said, her hand on the doorknob.

"You too," Hermes said, back in a human form.

Lanie rushed out the door as fast as she could, slamming it behind her.

_That was really weird…_she thought to herself. She looked back towards the prison. She should really go tell Jensen about the crazy old man. She looked at the open city gates, and her horse beyond it. Another battle began inside of her. She wanted to go back to Jensen, and she was obliged to do so, but she simply couldn't. She couldn't face the humiliation of returning after the exit she'd made.

She took two steps towards the city's gates. Then she stopped, and sighed. Could she just desert everyone when they were counting on her? What would they think? She shook her head. It didn't matter what they thought. She couldn't afford to get attached to them. It was dangerous for all of them. She ran out of Harenam as fast as she could.

~ The Real World ~

"So, how have you been?"

"Awful."

"Me too."

There was an awkward silence.

"They were supposed to contact us two weeks ago."

"Maybe they forgot."

"They never forget anything."

"Maybe they haven't had a chance."

"How would they not have a chance?"

"I don't know. What do you think happened?"

"The police, idiot, what else?"

"They could be dead."

"Yeah, right. How would they die?"

"Rogue prisoner? Cut the gas cords or something like that."

"Like anyone could be that stupid. Except, perhaps you."

There was another silence. One of them began to laugh. It was dry, forced laughter. It made them both feel even worse.

"What if something went wrong?"

"Like what?"

"Like… The gas killed all the prisoners, and they're afraid to report that."

"That's not that bad. They'd report that; it's what we're testing for."

"Maybe the police really did catch them; sent them off to prison for life."

"Life?"

"They've kidnapped dozens of people. You expect them to get away scot-free?"

"No, but…"

"But what?"

There was yet another silence.

"Well, perhaps if…"

"If what?"

"Never mind. It's a stupid idea."

The silence was broken by a bird singing.

"Look, I'm sorry. You know I don't mean it."

There was no response.

"Come on, buddy. I said sorry."

Still no response.

"Alright, don't answer. See if _you_ can figure out what's going on!"

One stormed away, the other sat still; helpless to do anything but watch as everything fell apart.

~ The Minecraft Realm ~

An alarm sounded. Prison break.

Adrian watched the flashing redstone lamp, a smirk plastered across his face. He knew they'd come. He knew they'd take the bait. They couldn't resist. They never can.

His underlings rushed around in a frenzy. One picked up an enchanted bow and made for the stairs, but stopped dead in his tracks when Adrian cleared his throat.

"Where are you going?" Adrian asked, voice cold.

"I… I'm going to shoot them. Harmless arrows; I know we need to take them alive," the minion responded, quaking slightly.

Adrian laughed heartily. His underling gave a nervous chuckle.

"Take them alive?" Adrian scoffed. "We won't be taking them at all. Let them go."

The underling was shocked. "But… Why, sir?"

"Haven't you ever been taught not to question orders?" Adrian snapped, humour gone in an instant.

"Y-yes, sir!" the underling stuttered.

"Yes, it was part of training, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir…?"

"So you obviously haven't been trained very well, have you?"

"No…? No, sir."

"Well, then. Someone's head must roll, mustn't it?" Adrian declared triumphantly. His underling simply nodded.

"Bring me that sword!" Adrian commanded. His will was the man's command, and the sword was placed in his hand.

"Now, who trained you?" he asked the minion.

"Him right there!" the minion said, pointing proudly to a nearby officer. Said officer looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Well, then. Say your prayers!" Adrian screamed, bloodlust in his eyes. He swung the gleaming blade, and landed it square between the officer's eyes. The man didn't suffer.

The minion broke into applause as his senior officer's lifeless body fell to the ground. The corpse still had its eyes wide open, and Adrian bent over to close them. His sword was wedged in the man's skull, and he ordered his minion to pull it out and clean it.

"Yes, sir!" the minion said, proudly. He wasn't afraid for his life anymore. But he should've been. Adrian's underling went about the business of cleaning the sword, and Adrian watched, scowling.

"What was your name again?" he asked his 'slave'.

"Thomas Rake!" the minion declared, happily giving Adrian the now clean sword.

"Well, Thomas… Didn't your father ever tell you anything about loyalty?" Adrian asked, sizing up the sword with an evil gleam in his eyes.

The blood drained form Thomas' face. "Yes, sir…" he whispered, his eyes closed. He should've seen this coming.

Adrian struck out with his sword with a sharp yell, taking another life. Prison breaks had always brought out the best in him.

He let the underling and the sword fall to the ground with a gentle thud and a clatter. He glanced down at the man's peaceful face. His underling had died smiling, and Adrian was unprepared for this. He was now angry.

He took a fresh sword, and stormed down the hall to the cells. He looked for the one Claire had resided in, finding it empty when he arrived. He'd wasted too much time, been savouring the moment too much, celebrating too early. It was the same mistake every time.

He could act like one of them, just for a while. He could even pretend to be their friend. But once he was unleashed, he was impossible to control.

Adrian swore, loudly and repeatedly. He looked for the nearest occupied cell. The woman across the hall from where Claire was.

"WHAT ARE YOU IN FOR!?" he screamed, losing control of himself.

"Murder," she replied coolly.

"GOOD!" Adrian replied, unlocking the cell. "READY?" he roared.

She nodded, then took a blunt stone dagger out of her pocket. "Very much so," she said, holding in out in front of her as he ran blindly into 'battle'. He never saw it coming. You could say he even deserved it, if anyone deserves to die. It wasn't the first time this had happened. It wasn't even the second. If the woman had known that, she wouldn't have bothered. Maybe she'd escape, but they'd catch her.

Adrian would be back, but no one could say for sure how. He had spies everywhere, waiting for someone to slip up and show their disloyalty. They would say that perhaps the alchemists had developed life-restoring potions. That the Ender Dragon was smiling down on Adrian, and wouldn't let him die. And they would live to spread the rumour some more. But if anyone said the dreaded words, 'half-blood', they wouldn't live to see the miracle again. Nor would anyone they told.

The woman stood for a second, watching her captor writhing in pain on the floor, with a mixture of pleasure and disgust. The sounds coming out of the dying man's mouth were animalistic, if that. His shaggy orange hair covered his face, and the green eyes that had rolled back in his skull. She stayed long enough to be sure he would die, and then she fled.

Adrian lay there, almost enjoying the sensation of feeling the life draining out of his body. Every person he murdered went through the same thing. It was a privilege, he'd decided, to experience it. He was giving them something, not just taking something away. That was the last thing he thought before his body went limp.

~ The Real World ~

It was odd. Very odd. Usually when she stormed away, he would follow her, tell her he was sorry. Perhaps even say that she was right. None of that had happened.

Thomas was still back there. He was a coward. It ran in the family. That had never stopped him in the past. The Rakes were an unusual family. There were three of them at that point in time, and not one of them had spoken to another Rake in ten long years. You would think it helped that her Thomas was a copy, this world's representation of the real thing. The real Thomas was elsewhere, in another realm, keeping an eye on things.

Felicity herself preferred not to go there. She'd been there twice, for business purposes, and she hadn't enjoyed her stay a lot. She thought this world had issues, but that place was seriously messed up. Half-bloods and 'regulars' had waged an all-out war, causing the half-bloods to go into eternal hiding. They would be killed upon discovery, so they keep to the shadows, with numbers in place of names.

It reminded her a little of this world's history. Only a little, however.

Their partners/employees Marcus and Allison hadn't given them any word in a month. They were scheduled to report two weeks ago, but they hadn't. Felicity was worried. Worried enough to pay a visit to the lab, which was two hours' drive.

Upon parking her car and approaching the door, she knew something was wrong. Just to be safe, she put on a basic gas mask, and grabbed a gun. She pushed the door, and it swung open. This wasn't unusual – Marcus never locked doors if he could help it, and Allison tended to be a little absent-minded.

Felicity walked down the hallway, ready to pull the trigger of her handgun as soon as necessary. There were only two doors, one to the left, and another to the right. The walls, once white, were now closer to yellow-ish grey. She took the wooden door to the left, leading to Allison and Marcus' sleeping arrangements. You could call it a dorm room. Nothing seemed out of place, apart from the fact that neither of her colleagues were there. They were probably in the lab.

Felicity took off her gas mask and laid it on a table. She inhaled deeply. She couldn't smell anything unusual. She reached for the gas mask, about to put it back on, when she heard a scream. Her hand fell to her side, and she instantly forgot about the gas mask. She went back into the hallway. The scream could only have come from the lab. She rattled the doorknob, but it was locked. The heavy metal door wouldn't budge. She lifted her gun to the lock, and pulled the trigger. With a wince at the near-deafening gunshot, she opened the door.

Nothing could've prepared her for what she found. Tears sprang to her eyes as she sank to her knees. Thomas had been right. In a flash, she realized why he hadn't come after, why he hadn't answered. He wasn't sulking. He was paralysed. Was… Was that what happened when…

A sob escaped her throat. Thomas was dead. Allison, Marcus and all the prisoners would soon be dead. She would be dead. She'd inhaled too much of the gas. Even if she ran now, she would collapse before she could make it out the door.

_The test subjects…_she thought, another revelation coming to her. _They won't die…_ Marcus had taken precautions with them, more than they'd thought necessary. But now, it seemed he'd done the right thing. He'd set up a sensor, to check that they were getting a steady supply of the drug. If the gas was cut off for some reason, the system would know, and would switch them over to an oxygen supply. It would also put their nutrition and hydration systems to automatic. The test subjects wouldn't die, assuming the system was enabled and functioning correctly.

They would, however, wake up soon. Hopefully they would leave the room before they would inhale enough of the gas to suffer the same fate as Felicity and her colleagues. She had to do something, something that would either force them to escape, or remove the gas from the room.

The second option seemed better, so she looked around the room for some sort of ventilation system. She couldn't see a vent of any kind, nor any sort of central heating system. She thought back to the contents of the dorm room. She remembered a single pedestal fan, and her gas mask.

She cursed herself for forgetting the mask, until she remembered what had brought her out of the room without it in the first place. _A scream…_ she thought, her breathing now becoming shallow and erratic. She was running out of time. It was pointless to think about something that wouldn't matter soon.

Felicity stood up, and stumbled into the dorm room. She grabbed the gas mask, and the fan, and returned to the lab. She took off one of the prisoner's air supply masks, and replaced it with the gas mask.

_At least one of them can survive…_ she thought, close to collapsing. Then, she had a brilliant idea. She dropped the fan and searched the room for something sticky and pliable. _Gum… Plasticine… BLU-TACK! _She grabbed a wad of Blu-Tack from the desk, and rolled it between her hands, searching the room for the gas cords.

_There… And they _have_ been cut!_ She rushed towards them, and shoved the Blu-Tack over them. She wasn't sure what would happen to the gas tanks, but she wouldn't be surprised if they exploded.

She felt her left leg fall asleep. _NO! Not yet!_ She took the fan, and plugged it in to a power point close to the door. She turned it on facing the open door, and smiled at her work. Hopefully, the test subjects would survive, even if she herself wouldn't. She frowned. Did she _want_ them to survive? Their survival would ruin the whole operation, after all. _Doesn't matter_, she decided. _We're all going to die, anyway._

She limped to the closest unoccupied bed, and lay down, throwing a sheet over herself. With a satisfied smile on her face, she let a sigh escape her lips before she drifted into a deep sleep.

~ The Minecraft Realm ~

"What was your name again?" asked Jensen.

"Marcus," came the reply.

The gang was gathered in an alley, making plans on what they would do now that Claire was out of prison.

"Right. And you're Allison?" Jensen asked, pointing to the other new member of the party.

Allison nodded, and glanced around at her new companions.

"So… Why did you save us?" she asked Claire.

Claire simply shrugged. "Why would I leave you?"

Marcus and Allison looked at each other, then back at Claire.

"You don't recognise us, do you?" Marcus said, looking at the familiar faces around him.

"No, can't say that we do," Mariah replied, without looking up. She was going through her backpack.

"Ah. I see," he said softly.

Allison nudged him with her elbow. "We should tell them the truth."

"We still have a few days to live, Allison. Couldn't we… postpone the truth?"

She glared at him. "No."

Marcus let out a big sigh. "Do you know how you got here?" he asked them, looking down at his hands.

"No," Penny, Mariah, Jensen and Claire said in unison.

"Well… You all know where you came from, yes?" Marcus continued.

The four of them who had been shifted nodded.

"How can I put this….? Do you know that you're still there?" he asked, looking up at Jensen. He thought that perhaps the logical scientist might understand best.

"What?" Jensen replied, his face completely blank.

Marcus sighed again, and looked at Allison for support. It was never easy explaining the whole situation.

"There are two of you," Allison began slowly. "One of you here, in this realm… And one in the other, where you come from."

"Okay?" Penny said, unsure of where this was headed, or whether to believe them.

"Well, under natural circumstances, there would just be one of you, back in the other realm. But these are not natural circumstances. You were… kidnapped. By us. We gave you a little chloroform… Took you out of your homes… And gave you a special drug. A drug that creates a new you, here, and gives you control of them," Marcus said, taking over from Allison.

"Do you follow so far?" Allison asked the group.

"I do," Sebastian said quietly. The other looked at him in complete confusion.

"I was close friends with Thomas Rake, your colleague. Well, the original Sebastian was, anyway. Thomas explained the whole thing to him. In return, Sebastian shared the secret of the half-bloods. This was long before the war, just after the zombie sieges," Sebastian said, looking pained.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Claire asked him gently, reading his mind as she so often did.

Sebastian just nodded and put his face in his hands.

"Their emotions transcend lives, and bodies. The pain that the first Sebastian would feel now is the same pain that our Sebastian is feeling," Claire explained, pulling Sebastian into a hug.

"I'm sorry," Penny said softly.

"Claire… If all that's true… How come I have no idea who Thomas is?" Shadow asked, speaking for the first time since the prison break.

"Did you watch him _die_!?" Sebastian snapped.

"Actually… yes. It made me… really sad. But I didn't know why, because I didn't know who he was," Shadow told him, letting his dark hair flop in front of his face. "I think I understand now, though. I just don't know why I couldn't remember him."

"Shadow," Claire began, "Is it possible that you're not Sebastian's half-blood?"

Jensen gazed proudly at his sister. She was so smart and logical.

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, cocking his head slightly.

"Well, maybe one of Sebastian's direct half-bloods died, and you were their half-blood. A half-blood of a half-blood," Claire explained, resisting the urge to yell, "HALF-BLOOD-CEPTION!" and make the low-pitched drones that Inception was famous for. No one there would get the joke, anyway.

"I see. That would make sense, actually. I mean, considering he seems to have trouble remembering stuff," Sebastian said, seemingly past his sorrow.

Jensen grinned. _So _smart and logical.

"Perhaps I could try explaining the whole shebang to them?" Sebastian suggested.

"Why not? You couldn't possibly make it any more confusing than they did," Mariah said, shooting a pointed look at Marcus and Allison.

"Well, Penny here was shifted when she was very young. Under five, right?" Sebastian began. Penny nodded.

"Now, when Thomas found out that they'd kidnapped a whole family, with a little kid, he was _not_ pleased. He told them that they couldn't test on anyone under the age of sixteen. They needed to test on young people, though; as young as possible. That's why you guys all got taken on your sixteenth birthdays. That was as young a person as they were allowed to take," Sebastian said, glaring slightly at Marcus and Allison.

Claire could pretty much see his thoughts plastered across his face. Or thought, to be more precise, as he was only thinking one thing: _Jerks._

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwaaaiiit," Mariah said, holding up both hands. "If she got shifted when she was that young… that means you guys have been kidnapping people for _over twenty years_! And there's no way you're that old."

"_Time. Passes. Differently. IDIOT!_" Marcus wanted to scream at her. He was already frustrated and insulted. Allison clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Time passes differently in each realm. It tends to go faster here, but it changes. Back when we had to undergo testing ourselves, we would find that sometimes years had passed between visits, even though only a few months had passed back on Earth," Allison explained patiently.

Mariah was still confused, but she pretended to be satisfied. Claire rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Sebastian said, silencing his companions. "You're all in a small lab in the middle of nowhere. But, you're simultaneously here, listening to me explain everything. There are two of each of you. One here, one there. Everyone keeping up?"

There were a few shrugs and nods. Marcus glared at the half-blood who was stealing his thunder. Allison elbowed him sharply in the ribs, and whispered, "Be nice. They could kill us anytime they want."

"Now, there used to be just one of you. Back where you come from. When you got kidnapped and drugged, a copy of you was created, and placed somewhere in this realm. It's mostly random, but as far as the tests have shown, you always land up somewhere that's already been explored by someone else," Sebastian continued, eyes on Mariah.

The poor guy was completely smitten. He knew that the real Mariah was somewhere else, in a whole other world. She was dreaming. Dreaming of him. A shiver went down his spine, and he grinned.

Jensen watched the love-struck man gaze at his sister. He felt like something about the whole situation was very, very wrong. But he wasn't sure why. Did all brothers feel like this? He didn't know.

"When you're under the drugs – dreaming, if you will – you have control over that copy. It's as if that's the real you. The only you. When you wake up, the copy continues, remembering everything that you'd done, and living on," Sebastian said, now glancing nervously at Jensen, who was giving him a sub-conscious death-glare.

Mariah looked at Sebastian. It was dark now, and the streetlights were just barely illuminating the dark alley. Something about that dim light worked to Sebastian's advantage. His eyes sparkled, his skin glowed, and his hair shone. Mariah couldn't help but notice all of this. She thought back to his tears, his sorrow at the loss of his friend. It had been eye-opening. She was ashamed to realize that he was human. He was just as real as Scott, Jensen, or even her parents back home. He had feelings. Even if those feelings made her more than a little uncomfortable, it didn't give her a right to ignore him. And it didn't give Jensen a right to hate him.

Claire looked at Mariah, whose eyes had opened just a little wider when they'd passed over Sebastian. She suspected that there was something afoot that her sister didn't realize. Claire smiled. This would be interesting.

"What happens when you go back into the dream, after having woken up?" Penny asked, leaning against the brick wall of the building behind her.

Sebastian shrugged. "They're not sure. Memory-loss is one of the side-effects they're still trying to work out. When the test subjects go back under, it's as if they'd started over. They have nothing, they're somewhere different, and they completely forget everything between their kidnapping and waking up in this realm."

"It makes waking them up a nightmare," Marcus interjected.

"Gee, thanks," Penny said, looking mad.

"You especially, princess. Trying to tell a four-year-old where their parents are is _hell_," Marcus crowed.

Jensen crossed his arms in deep thought. If Penny was 25 here, would she be 25 there too, or…

"Claire," he began.

"What?" she replied, trying to calm an enraged Penny down.

"What was the date when you were taken? How long had passed since we were taken?" Jensen asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Four years," Claire replied, her eyes showing a hint of sadness. Jensen opened his mouth to ask something else, but Claire pre-empted it, and told him, "They're okay. They haven't lost hope, but… I think they're starting to. You two are legally deceased. The police tried for a few months to find you, but at the end of the first year, they gave up and decided that you must have been killed. They haven't held a funeral yet. Every day… Every day Dad asked if you're still alive, and if you're okay."

"What do you tell him?" Jensen asked quietly, looking at the ground and fighting tears. He'd tried to forget about his parents, about the world he and Mariah had left behind. They'd hurt everyone so much.

Mariah stood up, and walked out onto the street. She couldn't handle the conversation anymore. She was confused, tired, and impossibly sad and angry. The tears in her eyes glistened in the light of the street lamps, before she wiped them away with the back of her hand. She looked down the street, the way Lanie had gone when she left, and wondered if the griefer would come back. She doubted it. They had no conscience, no friends, and no loyalty. She'd probably report them to the prison warden to get the reward that was surely on their heads.

After the whole mess that Scott turned to be, she wasn't terribly good at trusting people. Jensen and Scott had been close friends, so if anything, Scott should've been a really great guy. Someone who would've been on their side. But he was the one who started the fight. Jensen seemed upset at the apparent change in his friend. Mariah knew they hadn't parted on good terms, but she didn't realize what had actually gone down before they were taken. And she probably never would.

"That you were fine," Claire said. "And I promised I'd find you. A small part of them believed me, simply because they really wanted to. The rest of them, though, dismissed my promises as a child's dream…" Her eyes had glazed over slightly, and she looked up at the sky.

"Guys?" she began quietly.

"Yeah?" Jensen replied, in a similar dreamlike state.

"Did you ever try to go back?" Claire asked, looking back down at him.

Jensen looked around at his company. Penny, Mariah, Claire, Shadow, Sebastian, Marcus and Allison. Their little group seemed to be growing. He suddenly felt a pang deep in his chest. Lanie had left. That had been hours earlier. If she was coming back, she would've done so already. He couldn't help but feel like this was all his fault. He'd fought with Lanie. He'd decided to come to Harenam. The whole 'adventure' was his idea. He'd convinced Mariah to give up on going home. And there was one more thing. It was always a little hazy, but he _did_ remember waking up, and going to the Minecraft Realm. He'd been back, multiple times.

He'd wanted a fresh start. Mariah had a life back in the other world. He'd forced her to leave it behind. To forget it. He gazed at his sister as she stood out on the street, quietly crying. He sprung up and ran after her, to beg for her forgiveness. He'd been so blind.

Claire watched as her brother left, her question hanging in the air unanswered. Or so it seemed. His actions had told Claire everything. They _had_ tried to leave, or at least Mariah had. She chased down every possible way of leaving. Jensen had known all along what was going on. He'd lied, faked being clueless. He hadn't realized how selfish he had been.

Everything he did was to escape everything he'd messed up back home. All the people he'd hurt. But it all backfired when he'd discovered that Scott was here, too. And now he'd realized that the old saying was true: _Wherever you go, there you are_.

Jensen couldn't escape from his mistakes. But he could make them right again, which he was determined to do.

Claire watched as Jensen embraced Mariah, who was grinning through her tears. Perhaps she knew that Jensen could go back whenever he wanted to. Perhaps she was still here for him. Perhaps there was reason that the two half-bloods were falling all over her.

A glance passed between said half-bloods, and they immediately got up and ran to join the hug. Claire laughed and ran towards them, too.

Penny was left with her captors. She wasn't sure if she was really a part of this group – this family. She felt like a sixth wheel, an outsider who wasn't supposed to be there. Jensen turned his head away from the mass of blocky people to look at her. He smiled, and pulled an arm out of the tangle to beckon to her.

Penny shook her head, smiling gently. She still felt like she was intruding.

Jensen pulled himself away from his 'family', and ran over to her.

"Come on," he said, "Being part of the group means being a part of group hugs." He held out a hand to her, as Marcus and Allison rolled their eyes at the sappy scene unfolding before them.

Penny hesitated, before taking Jensen's hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet.

"Are you sure?" she whispered, painfully conscious of how close together their faces were getting. She resisted the urge to look over to the group again, afraid that she could ruin the moment.

Marcus couldn't take it anymore. He had to put them out of their collective miseries. After Allison gave him a nod of approval, he shouted, "Just kiss and get it over with! Ugh! Seriously!"

The two sweethearts laughed softly, without looking away from each other. Then, after a very long moment, they obliged.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Ugh! That was so **_**fluffy**_**! Geez! I don't know about you guys, but writing romance just makes me uncomfortable. I was sitting there for a little while, trying to figure out how I could make them kiss using the most indirect wording possible. Even what I wrote put a massive lump in my throat. I'm not sure if it's because I wanted to throw up, or something completely different. I guess it's too bad for me, though, because I would've been really mad at myself if those two didn't get their little moment. In case you were wondering, I was listening to McFly's Bubble Wrap as I wrote the last few hundred words. It sort of sets a good mood for writing something romantical.**

**Don't get me wrong, guys, I'm a sucker for cheesy romance (chick flicks/lit excluded. That stuff is trash), but writing it is **_**very**_** different from reading or watching or living it. It's like creeping on two of your friends as they hook up… Ugh.**

**Anyway, I know this chapter has been in the works for… like a billion years, but it **_**is**_** officially the longest chapter to date. So that's a plus, right?**

**Well, that's all for now, but stay tuned for Chapter 17. Don't worry if it takes a few months, just be confident that I am **_**actually**_** working on it.**

**Thanks for not giving up on me,**

**~~ Kestrel Knight**


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